Glenorchy City Council to pursue funding for a range of stimulus projects

The redevelopment of the former Berriedale caravan park site next to Mona has been identified as one of several shovel-ready projects the Glenorchy City Council will pursue State Government funding for.

GLENORCHY City Council will pursue $5 million in State Government funding for shovel-ready projects, including making the Berriedale caravan park site next to Mona development ready.

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The council on Monday unanimously voted to endorse a range of COVID-19-related financial assistance measures.

Ratepayers will see a zero increase to their bill for 2020-21 and a longer deferral of rates payments was also voted in.

Glenorchy Mayor Kristie Johnston. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Glenorchy Mayor Kristie Johnston said before the pandemic, the council was forecasting a small budget surplus for next financial year, but now faced a deficit of around $10 million.

“This will put an enormous strain on our finances, but I can assure our community that we will take a slow, steady and planned approach to returning to a budget surplus over time, and to share the burden of recovering from this crisis with our community,” she said.

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The council also voted to pursue funding for a range of stimulus projects in the area, including $500,000 to make the former Berriedale caravan park site development-ready.

The former Berriedale caravan park site. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

Mona was in 2015 selected as the preferred tenderer for redevelopment of the site, and released a vision for retro caravans, themed sleeping pods and camping and campervan sites that would provide ­affordable accommodation for up to 50,000 visitors a year.

“We’ve identified the caravan park as a potential shovel- ready project where we can increase visitation to our community, which means we increase the spend in our community and provide jobs during the construction period as well,” Ald Johnston said.

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The council will also pursue $2.5 million for improving the cityscape by “creating an active, vibrant city centre for Glenorchy”, as well as $80,000 towards a $330,000 project called the “Mona Back Door Corridor”.

“People often head straight to Mona on the ferry or drive directly there along the Brooker Highway — they don’t often appreciate that we are a city of arts and culture and we have some significant other offerings,” Ald Johnston said.

“We’re trying to encourage people to take a different route to get to Mona by enjoying things like the Moonah Arts Centre and travelling through our CBD and stopping off at a local cafe or restaurant or shopping centre.”