Mayor Anna Reynolds lashes ‘silly’ housing plan for Macquarie Point
Hobart’s Mayor has launched a scathing attack of the state government’s plan to develop housing near the Regatta ground, saying it was done “in haste” to get the stadium off the ground.
Tasmania
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Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds has launched a forthright critique of the state government’s plan to develop housing near the Regatta Ground, saying it had only been floated to support the federal funding bid for a stadium at Macquarie Point.
Flanked by Royal Hobart Regatta Association president Ross Doddridge and RSL Tasmania chief executive John Hardy, Ms Reynolds offered a scathing assessment of the apartment complex the government wants to build on the Regatta Point foreshore.
“It does feel like everything is being designed for a media announcement, rather than being designed for the best long-term outcome for the city and the best outcome for these much-loved community places,” she said.
The Lord Mayor said Regatta Point was not a good location for housing and that medium-density housing should be built on the Northern Suburbs Rail Corridor.
“Some of these projects are being put into place now to try to soften the [stadium] project to make it look as though there’s more to the precinct,” Ms Reynolds said.
“But in that haste, there’s some silly decisions being made, like putting housing in this site, which is not the best and highest use for this amazing riverfront site.”
She said she had only been made aware of the plans for Regatta Point “in the last couple of weeks” and that the last time members of the council were given the opportunity to officially discuss the stadium – estimated to cost $715m to build – with Premier Jeremy Rockliff was in December.
Mr Doddridge said the housing announcement put the future of the Royal Hobart Regatta under a cloud.
“You can’t run a regatta without a foreshore. We have our activities based on that foreshore,” he said.
Mr Doddridge said Regatta Point was home to Hobart’s only public access boat ramp, with the nearest equivalents being at Kingston and Prince of Wales Bay.
Meanwhile, Mr Hardy expressed outrage over the timing of the news that the Macquarie Point stadium was all but certain to receive $240m in federal funding.
“I think it’s ... slightly crass to be leaking stuff like this a day after Anzac Day,” he said.
“We have acted nobly, we have acted professionally, we have acted courteously and we have acted with respect at all times. And then driving into work on a Wednesday morning after Anzac Day, we get told [via the radio] that they’re going to do an announcement and this is what it might be.”
RSL Tasmania does not support the proposed stadium due to fears it would overshadow the Cenotaph.
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