Launceston’s Gorge Hotel proposal finally given green light as planning tribunal appeal fails

It was first proposed in 2015, and four years since being approved the hotel development has been stuck in litigation. Here’s the latest decision on its future.

Render of JAC Group's proposed 12-storey Gorge Hotel on Paterson St, Launceston. Picture: Commercial Project Delivery

Despite fierce opposition from community groups and local residents, a controversial $50m hotel development proposed for Launceston has once again been given the green light.

The Gorge Hotel was first proposed in 2015 by proponents JAC Group, who described the hotel as offering “magnificent waterfront views” and said it would be positioned near the city’s two most popular tourist attractions: Penny Royal and Cataract Gorge.

The proposed nine-storey, 145-room hotel would sit on the corner of Paterson Street and Margaret Street in Launceston.

The hotel was initially approved by the Launceston City Council in 2019 but was knocked back by the Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal later that year following an appeal lodged by Susan Cai.

The council then prepared a planning scheme amendment that would allow for a greater maximum height for the development and enable the proponent to reapply to build the hotel.

Render of JAC Group's proposed 12-storey Gorge Hotel on Paterson St, Launceston. Picture: Commercial Project Delivery

The council then approved the second development application in late 2022.

Ms Cai again appealed the decision, but the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled in favour of the council and the developer.

Ms Cai then decided to press the case further in an appeal to the Supreme Court in August last year, arguing that the Tribunal erred in its February 2023 decision that proposed hotel features, including retail facilities, a function centre, and the height of the hotel, were “ancillary uses” that would contribute to or promote visitor accommodation.

Counsel for Ms Cai, Catherine Scott, argued that the Tribunal had not applied the right test when considering whether the features of the proposed hotel were “ancillary”.

Counsel for TRC, a company of Joseph Chromy’s JAC Group, Anthony Spence SC, argued that there was “no mandatory test” that the Tribunal should have followed in determining whether the hotel features were “ancillary” to the core purpose of providing visitor accommodation.

But TASCAT dismissed this appeal, declaring that none of the grounds could be made out and that the development met the requirements regarding whether ancillary uses of the development would be directly connected with and serve, contribute to, or promote the primary use.

“I cannot detect any error of law in the Tribunal’s approach. It did not find that the question of the classification of the ancillary uses was “distinct” from the question of their direct association with the primary use and their being a subservient part of that use,” the decision read.