Council to consider Penny Royal car park sale

Property co-ordinator Robert Holmes has authored a report in Monday’s agenda recommending the land be sold to the owners of the Penny Royal site for a price ‘‘at not less than valuation advice’’.

Under current arrangements the site is leased to JAC group for a peppercorn rent of $10 a year until 2028.

JAC Group managing director Dean Cocker said the plan to buy the site was not related to the Gondola proposal, and that the land would remain a car park.

Mr Cocker said he believed the council had plans to expand existing car parks in that area, and the sale would provide them with additional money to do so.

‘‘[Those upgrades] will obviously involve quite a bit of money, so one way to help to fund that ... would be for us to buy that car park from council, and then they can use the money from the sale to basically go towards helping to upgrade and develop other car parks around the area,’’ he said.

‘‘In this situation we’re the ones who are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it all presentable and modern for the next 50 years or more – it makes sense that we would spend that money and we’re the owners of it.’’

City of Launceston general manager Robert Dobrzynski said the land was not ``public land.''

‘‘An independent valuation has been obtained, in accordance with Section 177 of the Act, and this figure is commercial in confidence,’’ he said.

The council will also consider adopting the Reimagining the Gorge Project 2030 Vision on Monday.

The final plan has been recommended for approval with the inclusion of a statement that the council would support any commercial development within or adjacent to the Gorge utilising the vista ‘‘provided they are sympathetic to the vision and values of the Cataract Gorge’’.