In the meeting agenda, City of Launceston officers said, prior to the commencement of any work, amended plans must be submitted showing a redesigned 4th and 5th floor.

The recommendation relates to height queries raised by representatives against the project.

The development was critiqued for being above the Launceston interim Planning Scheme, which restricts building height to 12 metres.

The proposal for 30 apartments has a total height of 17.65 metres, with the site to be developed by the construction of two adjoining five-storey blocks of multiple dwellings, containing a total of 24 two and three-bedroom dwellings. 

“It stands substantially above the adjoining structures and, as presented, is not compatible with the streetscape or the character of the surrounding area,” the council agenda said.

“A condition is proposed to require modifications to the top floor to provide a setback of at least six metres from the frontage. This modification will enable the building to present, within the streetscape, as only marginally higher than the acceptable solution.”

The agenda said council's urban designer advised that when buildings are proposed with heights above the acceptable level, in an area of valued scale and built character, a common rule of thumb is to provide for an appropriate height versus setback relationship.

“It’s obviously significantly higher than the cottages it is proposed to replace and the surrounding buildings, with the vast majority of these being either single or double storey,” the agenda said.

“The notable exception to this is the Vertical Retort building, which stands alone, set well back from any street frontage in the centre of the former Gasworks site.

“While the detail proposed in the recycled brickwork at ground level offers some human scale and use of material which are very much 'of the site', the larger form and material palette does not address the scale, pattern or level of detail evident in the valued streetscape along this historic section of the industrial riverfront.”

The report about the development said the only way a five-storey building such as the one proposed may be considered to meet the provisions in regard to scale would be to step the upper floors back from Boland Street.

This would make them less evident as part of significant streetscape views along the river edge. Officers also suggested the scale of the overall structure be broken down with more horizontal forms.