Talking Point: Take charge of our destiny before it’s too late

RON CHRISTIE: The Hobart community must be author of its own legacy

CRUISE CONTROL: Come summer, and the complaints will flood in. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

It is encouraging to read many letters concerned about the growth of tourism in our city and state, particularly national parks.

While Australian Bureau of Statics figures are encouraging with significant sustainable growth in the public sector, particularly infrastructure in hospitals, roads and schools, a credit to our Government, we should not be concerned about punching above our weight or competing with other states and territories.

An Editorial (Mercury, July 6) stated, and rightly so, we are the New Tasmania and although tourism is growing at an exponential rate it’s the sustainability of growth that we should be concerned about.

Labor’s Scott Bacon is correct in saying it’s more than just minding the shop.

Go inside and you will find the important home issues of an ageing population, literacy rates, wages and health.

We are always going to have governments, including the one I work in, talking up the economy, continually hearing the word sustainable.

The truth is, at this current rate, it is just not sustainable.

While infrastructure grows and jobs increase ask yourself this question, is it for us, our community, or is it to keep up with the insatiable demand in tourism?

I mentioned in a council meeting recently that we are at a turning point where our community must take control of the destiny of its city.

You must tell us, demand of us, to look after the place we live, work, learn, meet and relax in. This is the only opportunity you will have in this lifetime to protect your heritage, limit building heights, protect your mountain and leave a legacy for your grandchildren.

I guarantee if it does not happen now, it never will. It will be too late.

You must participate now. Do we need 200m high skyscrapers in our city?

You can have your say in council public forums and in online forums. You can also do it on the ballot paper next month.

I have mentioned several times in this newspaper my personal concerns about the growth of tourism in our city. I am not decrying its benefits, simply stating a fact that no one is in control of it. I can promise this. The complaints will roll in again this November and December about the waterfront being closed to traffic because of 62 cruise ships in port. More traffic jams, more stress. It will be worse in five years when more than 80 ships arrive, one every second day.

The cruise ship industry is a multi-billion dollar business and more ships are being built. Every seven to 10-day cruise around our nation with an average 2000 passengers is worth $5-6 million to the company.

Not to us. We get the coffee tips and coach fees for a trip up the mountain, Port Arthur or Bonorong.

TasPorts does OK as well, with pilot fees of about $5000 per ship, plus tonnage fees and services totalling $10,000-$15,000 average per visit.

How do we control, sustain and protect our city from this stealth invasion?

A good start is to stop selling it. The state, our leaders, can reduce the multimillion-dollar advertising spend on national and international campaigning.

Slow it down. Word of mouth is out there doing the job for us and it will continue for several years.

Look at Mona — it’s on the lips of international travellers. We are the second oldest capital city in Australia, with the best heritage story ever to be told. We are also the smallest and our annual spend is a meagre $135 million a year, spent on roads, footpaths, rubbish, parks and soon a very important smart city connection to be laid out.

Give us time to cope with this infrastructure rush so we can maintain and sustain the 80,000 people that come into our city each day and the 22 extra hotels and student accommodation on the way.

If this does not happen I guarantee, promise again if you will, that all of us will feel we do not belong in our own city.

Ron Christie is Hobart Lord Mayor.