A fiery public meeting has demanded that the City of Launceston Council rethink its decision to gift a $5 million parcel of land at Inveresk to the University of Tasmania.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
More than 130 people attended the public meeting on Tuesday night, most expressing opposition to the council’s proposed plans to transfer the land to UTAS if it were to relocate.
A vast majority of the audience supported a motion to have the land at the Willis Street Car Park and old velodrome site put up for sale through public auction with a reserve price of $5 million.
The show-of-hands vote was not binding but a report of the meeting will be prepared over the next month to be considered by the council aldermen.
Transport and access, taking up public facilities, rates, whether the move was even necessary and funding issues were some of the concerns raised.
Former UTAS lecturer Michael Powell said the proposal to get 12,000 new students enrolled in the university within the next 10 years was an aspirational figure and not based on fact.
“Since the University of Tasmania took over the Newnham campus of [Tasmanian State Institute of Technology], more than 1000 employees have gone from the region,” Dr Powell said.
“They’ve taken away our staff, they’ve taken away our courses and they’ve been asset stripping.”
Former Launceston alderman Basil Fitch said there were numerous people who had been interested in the land but Launceston Deputy Mayor Rob Soward said that in the past two decades, there had been no formal approaches for the land made to council.
“You will never know until you put it on the market,” Mr Fitch said.
“That land is worth $5 million just sitting there.”
UTAS education professor Sue Kilpatrick, who spoke in favour of the land handover, said most universities nationally were struggling for funding.
“The fact is your uni is investing in Tasmania and we should embrace it with both hands,” she said.
Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said it was up to the aldermen whether, after hearing the comments in the meeting, they thought differently.
“It’s up to each aldermen to have an opinion on the matter.”
The UTAS relocation would see most of the current Newnham operation moved to Inveresk.
