Five Northern Tasmanian mayors have said their councils will carefully consider the state government’s offer to take out an interest free loan from a pool of $60 million.
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The scheme will be delivered as part of the Northern Economic Stimulus Package, to be used for council-initiated infrastructure projects.
West Tamar mayor Christina Holmdahl said the acting general manager had already started looking at projects which could be brought forward through the loans program.
“There are a few that we could consider but nothing definite so early in the piece, we haven’t even got the paperwork from the Minster so we don’t know what the criteria is or how it will work,” she said.
Northern Midlands mayor David Downie said his council also had a number of proposals which could be prioritised.
“Our council will certainly be active trying to access part of that $60 million and we’re looking at our capital expenditure program and seeing the projects that would fit in,” he said.
Councillor Downie said there would be a focus on projects that could have the resources outsourced to local contractors.
George Town mayor Bridget Archer said the council was supportive of any initiative which had the potential to create jobs or investment.
“To be able to potentially bring some projects forward on the face of it sounds positive … [but] I think part of the issue with capital works is the capacity to actually undertake the work,” she said.
Break O’Day mayor Mick Tucker was also cautious about the lasting effects of a loan.
“You've also got to be careful that you don’t bring forward something that has two, three or four years of life left in it … because if you build it now, your end of life comes forward too,” he said.
The stimulus package did draw criticism from Labor and the Greens, who said the plan should have included measures to address Launceston’s water and sewerage infrastructure.
Opposition Leader Bryan Green said the package had fallen well short of expectations. While Greens member for Bass Andrew Dawkins said the investment should have had extensive community consultations and workshops.
“Any plan to address the economic and employment decline in the North needs to look at long term sustainable growth and cannot be addressed by a Band-Aid solution” she said.