On Thursday the university held three meetings with the York Park and Inveresk Precinct Authority (YPIPA), tenants of the site, including the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and the Launceston City Council's working group on Inveresk.

The plans for the staged development include proposed potential sites at Inveresk on the site of the existing roundabout car park or the grassed area next to Aurora Stadium, the Willis Street car park and the council staff car park in Cimitiere Street.

The buildings would be three to four-storey and there may also be a footbridge connecting Inveresk to the Willis Street site.

The plans are expected to be made public around the end of August.

The university, Launceston City Council, TasTAFE and state government signed a memorandum of understanding in May, that was the first step in seeing the university move from its Newnham campus in a move designed to reinvigorate the city.

The university was contacted on Thursday for comment.

YPIPA chairman and Launceston Alderman Hugh McKenzie said the meetings were very much at the exploratory stage and the university was looking at a number of spaces around the city.

He said there were three to four spots that the university had identified for development at Inveresk, and where the current roundabout car park was would be the most problematic. He said the Cimitiere Street car park was not being considered in the early stages of any works.

Alderman Simon Wood said that while he felt optimistic about the plan, he also wanted to ensure that the Newnham area and those who had invested there would not suffer from the loss of the campus.

Launceston general manager Robert Dobrzynski said the council was part of the reference group, that it was very early days and that discussions at this point were speculative.