Clarence City Council staff recommend granting Chambroad two year time extension to begin Kangaroo Bay hotel and hospitality school

The Clarence City Council has outlined the conditions under which it may grant the developers of the controversial Kangaroo Bay hotel and hospitality school a two-year extension instead of buying the land back.

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CLARENCE City Council staff have recommended elected members vote on Monday to approve another extension of time for the developers of the contentious $80m Kangaroo Bay hospitality school and hotel.

A request by Chinese company Chambroad to council came after concerns about the future of the project by aldermen in recent weeks and speculation the council may enact a buyback clause for the land if construction had not started by the mid-October.

Artists impressions of the proposed development at Kangaroo Bay on Hobart's eastern shore.

In a report released on Thursday morning, the extension is recommended until October 13, 2022 as the “lowest risk” option and the council is set to:

• ACKNOWLEDGE the challenges and circumstances that have confronted Chambroad and the University of Tasmania as a consequence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and that the noncompliance with the agreed time limit for substantial commencement arises for reasons not within the reasonable control of Chambroad.
• THE mayor and general manager be briefed on progress immediately following each six-monthly review meeting, or at any other time that a critical decision related to the site or project is to be made, with an update report to be provided for tabling in open council by the mayor at the following meeting of council.
• PRIOR to any decision to commence works at the site, the general manager must be notified in writing. Chambroad is to provide council access the agreements with UTAS (or another educational partner), with a hotel operator and the head contract with the principal construction contractor.
• UPON completion of these requirements above, the general manager will issue Chambroad a certificate that confirms council is satisfied that Chambroad can reasonably complete the project.

A buyback clause would still exist if substantial commencement has not occurred by the new 2022 deadline.

The council sold the land to Chambroad for $2.44 million — the market value of the site as advised by the state’s Valuer-General, Mayor Doug Chipman said at the time.

The council has previously granted two other extensions of time to the developer.

Chambroad previously said its request for an extension was supported by the office of the Co-Ordinator-General, and the University of Tasmania which had signed a memorandum of understanding to run the hospitality training school.

The council report said advice from UTAS was it “intends to defer its final decision on the project until there is increased certainty of student numbers and industry recovery.”

Chambroad has advised that it received tenders in June 2020 from three short-listed Tasmanian construction firms and prepared an “early works” building application for lodgement,” the report said.

“From July 2020, the impact of the COVID pandemic took precedence. These activities

strongly suggest that reasonable steps were taken to comply with the 14 October 2020 time limit for substantial commencement and that the COVID pandemic is the main reason that the time limit was not met.”

Bellerive residents Cheryl Davison, left, with Michael and Anne Geard in front of the Kangaroo Bay development site in 2017. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

Bellerive resident Anne Geard said a petition signed by more than 2000 people would be submitted to council today[THURS] calling on them to buy back the land.

“The developers had plenty of time to make a substantial start prior to the coronavirus,” she said.

“About 95 per cent of the community are really happy for development - we’re often labelled with this NIMBY, anti-development tag and we’re not. We want something that makes where we live, great. We’re happy to share it, but don’t spoil it with something out of scale for the area.

“We’d like to see it as public open space, with a ferry wharf, small restaurants and shops, bikeways and walkways, public art and maybe boutique accommodation.”