Mr Oakman has been involved with the management of the National Trust in Tasmania for the past 18 years. 

He will join previously announced speakers Evan Boardman from E3 planning and Sophie Underwood from the Freycinet Action Network in discussing the proposed statewide changes to planning laws.

“We are concerned about the small towns of Tasmania and how traditional, modest, sometimes internationally significant places and attendant rural landscape setting will be preserved under the proposed provisions of the new Tasmanian Planning Scheme,” Mr Oakman said.

“Unless planning has provisions to help protect unique and important heritage buildings and landscapes, it will have a permanent detrimental impact on Tasmania.”

Mr Oakman said the concerns were heightened with the impending removal of over 500 properties from the Tasmanian Heritage Register.

“The built cultural heritage landscape of Tasmania is of unique national and international character and needs strong protection under planning laws,” he said.

Minister for Planning Peter Gutwein said yesterday that the government “makes no apologies for wanting to make the planning system faster, fairer, simpler and cheaper”. 

“Under Labor and the Greens there were 29 different planning schemes and the system was a complete mess,” Mr Gutwein said. 

“We took our policy for a single, statewide planning scheme to the election, it was endorsed by the people of Tasmania and we will deliver what we promised. 

“There will be further opportunity for consultation when councils decide how to apply the new planning scheme to their municipalities.”

The public information meeting will be hosted by 20 community groups at Pilgrim Uniting Church, 34 Paterson Street, from 7pm Tuesday night.

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