The DA for the UTAS branding, which was to be attached to the Inveresk building, was deferred at a previous council meeting with the understanding that it would be tabled again with the DA for the entire precinct.

Upon moving the recommendation Alderman Janie Finlay asked for the item to lay on the table while the council contacted the university to request the matter to be deferred.

But the university representative Selina Sharratt confirmed UTAS’ desire to have the designs approved at Monday’s meeting.

“We have asked it to be considered to signal our commitment to the project (of moving the campus) ... and to signal our presence in the community,” she said.

“Our view is that the student accommodation is an existing asset on the site and needs to be branded.”

Alderman Danny Gibson drew attention to the council officer’s report which said “the signage elements proposed are extremely large in scale and are only considered to be appropriate in scale when considered in the context of the broader site which is proposed to form the new campus for UTAS.”

“We are aiming to create a community precinct of which education is a component, it is not the University of Tasmania’s precinct, it is a Launceston precinct,” Ald Gibson said.

“I think this application sends the wrong message and the insistence of the university hierarchy in rushing it through is inconsistent [with the collaboration].”

Ratepayer Basil Fitch told the council approving the signage was “pulling the cart before the horse”.

Mr Fitch said it was his understanding that UTAS had requested more land from the council, where the existing ‘railway station’ was near the bridge.

“It should be deferred until such a time that you people make a decision on the land that is around the Inveresk site, it has to be decided on what is happening before you make a decision on signage,” he said.

Aldermen voted on the proposal and the recommendation failed, the vote was four to four, with Ald Darren Alexander abstaining. 

The council then took a five minute break. 

At the conclusion of the recess general manager Robert Dobrzynski said he had recieved advice from the university’s representative that they were seeking approval to ask for the matter to be deferred.

He said more discussion would be undertaken with the university and that the master plan would be made public imminently.