Hobart City Deal funding is a bridge too far, say mayors

Criticisms are swirling over the inclusion of a new Bridgewater Bridge in the Hobart City Deal, which mayors say must be a “living document” that is open to change.

HOBART’S City Deal has developed a case of the wobbles as mayors question whether it will deliver its stated outcomes and whether the deal needs to be refined.

Eighty per cent of the money in the 10-year $1.4 billion deal is being spent on just three projects: the Bridgewater Bridge, Antarctic stations and airport upgrades.

Mayors on Wednesday said there was a need for the deal to evolve to make sure it delivered its stated aims for greater Hobart — particularly in the areas of housing and transport.

Councillors will have five days to consider the draft City Deal Implimentation Plan before voting on it in closed council meetings in late September.

The plan will be made public some time after that.

CITY DEAL’S INITIATIVES TO CARRY ON

While it is not anticipated that any council will vote down the plan, Glenorchy Mayor Kristie Johnston said it was important that the City Deal be a “living document” which was open to change.

Ald Johnston is particularly critical of the $600 million allocated to the replacement Bridgewater Bridge.

“Constructing a new Bridgewater Bridge is not a strategic priority of our council,” she said. “We recognise a significant amount of funding for the city deal is for the Bridgewater Bridge, it’s all outside our jurisdiction and the scope of our responsibility, (but) it’s not immediately clear to us how that delivers the goals we want to achieve by the City Deal.”

There are criticisms of the inclusion of the Bridgewater Bridge in the Hobart City Deal.

Ald Johnston said there was a need to focus on the stated aims of the deal.

“I don’t want to be a mayor standing next to a Bridgewater Bridge that’s been delivered under a City Deal that I’m a signatory to which is a cost blowout or has engineering issues while there is still traffic backed up on the Brooker Highway, when the city doesn’t have the affordable housing it’s crying our for, and we’ve missed the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for urban renewal.”

Kingborough Mayor Dean Winter — who is fighting to keep the Antarctic Division from being shifted from Kingborough to Macquarie Point under the deal — said the business case for the bridge did not stack up.

“It has been frustrating that so much of my advocacy has had to be to defend the Kingston headquarters of the Australian Antarctic Division,” he said. “There is no economic or scientific benefit from moving jobs 10km up the road.

“The big infrastructure question over the next 12 months will be around the Bridgewater Bridge.”

Glenorchy Mayor Kristie Johnston said a new Bridgewater Bridge was “not a strategic priority of our council”. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

RACT chief executive Harvey Lennon said allocating funding to replace the Bridgewater Bridge through the City Deal was disappointing.

“My disappointment is that the Bridgewater Bridge was included in the City Deal, rather than separate priority funding for Tasmania as a whole, which would have left more funding in the City Deal for congestion-busting initiatives,’’ Mr Lennon said.

Federal Shadow Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure Andrew Giles said the Federal Government was failing to deliver its Hobart City Deal within the agreed time frame.

“Minister [Alan] Tudge hasn’t been able to meet his own six-month deadline to release the Hobart City Deal Implementation Plan,” Mr Giles said.

Hobart Mayor Anna Reynolds and Clarence Mayor Doug Chipman were contacted for comment.