Hobart City planning committee to decide on Crowther statue
A date has been set for the Hobart City planning authority to make its decision on the controversial statue of William Crowther, but will it be the end of the saga?
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A Hobart City Council planning committee vote on Wednesday will likely be the final nail in the coffin for the controversial statue of disgraced former Premier William Crowther, the removal of which has been recommended for approval by the council’s planning expert.
The Hobart City Council voted in August last year to take down the statue because Crowther stole the skull of Aboriginal man William Lanne and sent it to the Royal College of Surgeons in London.
After the Tasmanian Heritage Council’s decision on Wednesday not to block the statue coming down, the last step in the process is for a permit to be granted for the removal by the planning committee.
It means the matter will go before the council again, this time in its capacity as a planning authority to decide if a permit is granted.
Approval is all but guaranteed; five of the current elected members voted last year to take the statue down.
Two current members voted against taking it down and the remaining five are new.
The council’s planning experts have recommended the permit be granted.
While the application was advertised, the council received 35 representations, 23 in opposition to the removal, 10 which were supportive and two neutral.
Meanwhile the heritage council’s decision not to block the removal has been criticised.
Cr Louise Elliot has been advocating for the statue to stay standing in Franklin Square.
“A lot of people will be really perplexed by this decision as they see the Heritage Council’s role as being to protect our heritage, not allow it to be sent to storage,” Ms Elliot said.
“This decision is so disrespectful to the wishes of the many people who paid for this statue. “The statue belongs to the community of the 1800s who loved Dr Crowther dearly.”
Ms Elliot said she didn’t believe Wednesday’s vote would be the end of the matter.
“I’m certain the decision by the Hobart Council when it votes on its own planning application, which will undoubtedly support removal, will be appealed at TASCAT,” Ms Elliot said.
Zelinda Sherlock, who last year voted in favour of the statue’s removal, said the council undertook a lot of consultation before it’s August decision.
“We are at the planning stage of this process. Removing the statue is not about removing history,” Dr Sherlock said.
“The reinterpretation project is about having a more nuanced and honest representation of our past.”
Ms Sherlock disagreed with Ms Elliot’s comments.
“Such emotive and pathos inspired comments reveal an individual’s moral compass is spinning to a prejudice magnet that’s stuck in the 1800s,” Dr Sherlock said.
“I’m not in the 1800s. I’m in 2023 making a decision as a planning authority.”
Heritage Council gives blessing for Crowther statue removal
August 16, 5:20pm
The statue of William Crowther is a step closer to being taken down, after the Tasmanian Heritage Council gave its approval for the removal of the monument.
The statue is controversial because Crowther is known for decapitating the corpse of Tasmanian Aboriginal man William Lanne, stealing his skull and sending it to the Royal College of Surgeons in London.
The heritage council made the decision on Wednesday to approve the potential for a permit to be issued to remove the statue.
It comes after the Hobart City Council’s historic vote for the bronze part of the statue to be removed in August last year.
Permission was needed from the heritage council because Franklin Square is on the Tasmanian Heritage Register.
“The Heritage Council considers the historic cultural heritage significance of the place – in this case, the whole of Franklin Square,” Tasmanian Heritage Council chair Brett Torossi said.
“After careful deliberation, has determined by majority decision, that the impacts on the historic cultural significance of the Franklin Square that would result from removal the statue are acceptable.”
The heritage council’s blessing comes with conditions.
“To minimise the impacts arising from the statue’s removal, the Heritage Council has applied several conditions relating to the removal and storage of the statue, and the conservation and maintenance of the plinth that remains,” Ms Torossi said.
“The conditions provide protections for the statue and the remaining heritage fabric of Franklin Square.”
The final hurdle is for the Hobart City planning authority to issue a permit to allow for the actual removal of the statue.
The development application was publicly advertised last month.
Hobart Lord mayor Anna Reynolds said the heritage council’s criteria were different from the planning committee’s considerations.
“Council is not obliged to approve the removal just because the THC has done so, but if the decision is to approve the application, the Hobart City Council must include the THC conditions in the planning permit,” Ms Reynolds said.
“They’ve proposed some fairly simple and practical conditions around the process for removal and treatment of the statue afterwards.”
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Originally published as Hobart City planning committee to decide on Crowther statue
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