Questions about the City of Launceston’s planning process and designs for the Brisbane Street Mall have again been raised by cafe owner Robin Smith.
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The Coffee Republic manager has voiced concerns about aspects of the roofing, amount of seating, removal of trees and lack of plants a number of times, but said it had been to no avail.
Mr Smith said he faced losing the outdoor seating utilised by his customers for the past 15 years, due to access required for vehicles and pedestrians near the planned featured platforms.
He also shelved plans for an expansion into food offerings when the availability of on-street dining was “reduced beyond 60 per cent of the existing spaces”.
The council’s general manager Michael Stretton said changes to the final designs, such as increased seating and better side-to-side coverage from the shelter, had been made following consultation with traders.
“The City of Launceston has been working for many months to accommodate numerous requests from Mr Smith, and we've made a number of changes to the locations of various elements in the redesigned mall in an attempt to understand and, where appropriate, address his concerns,” Mr Stretton said.
But Mr Smith believed the council should have undertaken two forms of consultation, so more specific comments and suggestions could have been made about the designs.
The initial public consultation for the Launceston City Heart Project, which resulted in a Planning Institute of Australia Award, should have been about “community aspirations and expectations”.
“The council should then go away, draw up a draft and come back to you and say ‘what do you think’,” Mr Smith said.
“But I don’t believe the council came back and consulted on the Brisbane Street Mall, just like the St John Street bus stops.”
The council said a development application for the mall was not required as the works were exempt under the Interim Planning Scheme.
The tender for the $5.8 million mall upgrade has been awarded to The Baker Group.
Full statement from the City of Launceston general manager Michael Stretton
"The City of Launceston has been working for many months to accommodate numerous requests from Mr Smith, and we've made a number of changes to the locations of various elements in the redesigned mall in an attempt to understand and where appropriate, address his concerns.
"Retrofitting a public space in a CBD is always a challenge and we've been conducting regular stakeholder meetings with business and property owners in the Brisbane St Mall to keep everyone up-to-date.
"The Council believes that a redeveloped Brisbane St Mall will create new opportunities for businesses like Mr Smith's, and we are pleased with how supportive the majority of business owners have been and how constructively they've worked with us, and continue to work with us.
"The Council undertook extensive consultation with traders in the Mall. That dates back to as early as 2014 when we engaged with all stakeholders across the city with marquees, workshops and advertising.
"Then in 2017, there were a number of face-to-face meetings with traders and local owners over a one-month period, followed by a one-month public consultation. During those initial meetings, specific comments were made about the design and that feedback helped shape the final design, such as changes to the roofing of the shelters. This was approved by Council in October last year.
"That was changed to accommodate the wishes of the traders, who asked for side-to-side coverage - and more than one. In the final design, we have provided two large shelters that provide substantial side-to-side coverage of the Mall.
"As part of the consultation, Council revised the number of seats to align more with trader expectations and to meet the requirements of how the space will be best utilised going forward for all users.
"Overall, there were a number of modifications made to the original design from that feedback and those changes reflect the majority view of those who contributed.
"Ultimately, our goal is to deliver a high-quality public space redevelopment that contains more public seating, more shelter, a much higher standard of amenity for the people of Launceston.
"We will continue to attempt to work with all traders as the project continues."
Mr Stretton said that the final design for the Mall had the support of both CityProm and the Launceston Chamber of Commerce.
No development application is required for the works, as they are excempt under the Interim Planning Scheme. This was confirmed by an independent planning consultant.