Premier Will Hodgman has discussed the City of Launceston’s proposal to relocate the St John Street bus stop with his cabinet colleague.
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In April, the City of Launceston voted to relocate the St John Street bus stop 20 metres closer to the intersection of York Street.
But questions were raised about the need for the relocation of the bus stop.
This week the issue went to the highest office in the land, with the Premier questioned on the radio about the issue, and the cooperation of bus company, Metro Tasmania.
Mr Hodgman said he “certainly will” look at the matter, before diverting to his colleague responsible for Metro Tasmania, Rene Hidding.
“I’ll have a chat to him about it,” Mr Hodgman said.
“You would hope a common sense test can be applied and common sense prevail.”
A spokesman for Metro Tasmania would not comment on the company’s views about moving the stop, but said negotiations were ongoing.
“This is a City of Launceston process and therefore it is a matter for the council, however, Metro has been actively engaged as a stakeholder for some time and will continue to take part in council discussions when invited to do so,” he said.
“It is difficult to comment in greater detail until there is a final determination.”
Mr Hidding told The Examiner he had “spoken to Metro about this issue and I expect them to work closely with the Launceston City Council to resolve any issues”.
The dispute began in June when about eight business owners attended a council meeting and demanded to know what consultation had been completed.
City of Launceston general manager Robert Dobrzynski said the council worked “extremely cooperatively with Metro Tasmania”.
Mr Dobrzynski said the council had pushed back the St John Street redevelopment until 2018, to “focus on other major redevelopments under the Launceston City Heart Project banner”.
"The City of Launceston's intention has been to invest some $2.5 million in this area of St John Street to revitalise it, encourage business growth, and attract new investment,” he said.
"While various proposals have been canvassed for the location of CBD bus stops over many years, the council's policy position since 2015 has been that the St John Street southbound bus stops between York and Brisbane Streets be redesigned, upgraded and moved closer to York Street.
"There are no easy solutions; it's complex to develop a solution that encourages people to utilise public transport, and makes it user-friendly, while also tackling incidents of perceived and actual anti-social behaviour in the CBD."
