Trust defends Trump Tower mock-up of Fragrance Group’s hotel proposal

THE Tasmanian Conservation Trust has hit back at a developer which has accused the Trust of deceptively doctoring images of Trump Tower.

The Tasmanian Conservation Trust has defended its use of an image of Trump Tower in Las Vegas in its fight against a Fragrance Group hotel proposal.

THE Tasmanian Conservation Trust has hit back at a hotel developer which has accused the Trust of deceptively doctoring images of Trump Tower, saying the depiction is “as accurate as possible”.

The Trust has been called out for “deceiving Tasmanians” by circulating an altered image of Trump Tower in Las Vegas in its public appeal against a proposed development by the Fragrance Group.

FRAGRANCE FLIPS OVER TRUMP TOWER IMAGE

Trust director Peter McGlone said he denies the claims made by the developer on its Collins St mock-up and stands by the group’s depiction of the building.

“We absolutely believe our image shows accurately the height and the bulk of the proposed Collins Street Fragrance building and we disagree with any suggestion that it is in any way an exaggeration,” Mr McGlone said.

“We believe it’s as accurate as we could make it in terms of height and in terms of bulk, which is also important.”

An artist’s impression of the proposed Fragrance Group hotel in Collins St. Picture: SUPPLIED

Mr McGlone conceded that while the group used an online photograph of a Trump tower to model their image on, they reject the allegation they have deliberately set out to deceive the public.

“We took elements of [Trump Tower] to construct an image, but it is nowhere near as high as the Trump Tower,” he said.

The Trust said its motivation to produce the image was to show the height of the proposed hotel complex in the context of existing buildings.

“Our picture gives people a very clear impression of the relative size, most particularly the relative size to the heritage-listed Woolstore buildings to the left of the Fragrance building,” said Mr McGlone.

“We took a photograph of the area of Collins Street where Fragrance has proposed to build. We based our image on the closest building to the right of Fragrance Tower – that we estimate is 21m high – and we constructed a building image that’s 55m high, that’s the height of the proposed Fragrance building.”

A Fragrance Group spokesman said it was disappointing the Trust would use false imagery.

“Fragrance is happy to respond to truth ... but using this image is ... designed to deceive Tasmanians,” the spokesman said.