The streets of Rocherlea buzz with post-school traffic and the Northern Suburbs Community Centre has finished hosting an early Christmas season lunch.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Manager Denise Delphin returns to her office after the meal, where 77 people joined the centre in celebrating the fast-approaching holiday.
Launceston’s northern suburbs, a culturally-diverse, busy part of the city, has years of major change ahead.
The University of Tasmania will move its Newnham campus to Inveresk in a bid to expand.
Launceston City Council is developing a strategy for the suburbs to the north of the CBD: Newnham, Mowbray, Mayfield, Rocherlea, Ravenswood and Waverley.
Ms Delphin said the northern suburbs community was proactive in education and getting itself job-ready.
Its newer residents, migrants from diverse cultural backgrounds, were keen to join the job market and engage, she said.
A learner driver mentor program to help locals get driving experience was assisting, she said.
There’s a solid base of long-term residents now with that lovely mix of new people from other states and that lovely layer of people from other parts of the world.
- Denise Delphin
The northern suburbs is home to people who have spent time in refugee camps.
Mani Rai, who coordinates the driving instruction program at Northern Suburbs Community Centre, has lived in Tasmania for four years after 23 years in a Nepalese refugee camp.
He lives in Mowbray, working and spending time with his wife Krishna Kala, sons Obeth and Robert, daughter Ichha and son-in-law Tika Hangkhim.
Mr Rai wanted to encourage people to further their education.
The driving program has seven mentors, with three more to come soon, and has 47 people on its waiting list.
Those learning to drive will be able to get to jobs and find work, Mr Rai said.
“I’m very happy with Australia,” he said.
“I want to help everyone to prosper.”
The northern suburbs has a strong and vibrant community, Ms Delphin says.
“There’s a solid base of long-term residents now with that lovely mix of new people from other states and that lovely layer of people from other parts of the world.”
The area had changed, as it became younger and new residents arrived from the mainland. But it faced challenges, she said.
“We’ve probably lost more than we’ve gained in the northern suburbs over a period of time as far as industry and business.”
When the Tamar Valley pulp mill was proposed, there was movement in the area, she said.
“You could feel a bit of a buzz in the air because it looked like things were going to happen.”
The future of UTAS’ Newnham site is yet to be decided, but work is under way to find a new use.
Launceston City Council has set aside $80,000 in its 2016-17 budget to allow the first stage implementation of a Northern Suburbs Development Strategy, covering social, physical, urban and public transport planning.
It will also include a development plan for the university campus at Newnham to help it transition to new uses once UTAS relocates, council general manager Robert Dobrzynski said.
“The council has no set view on how the Newnham campus should be used; that is something we will work on with the Launceston community. It is certainly suitable for a range of potential uses,” he said.
The council will undertake broad community consultation on the Northern Suburbs Development Strategy, he said.
University of Tasmania Pro Vice-Chancellor (Community, Partnerships and Regional Development) Professor David Adams said the university was committed to a “master planning approach” for Newnham campus, which would be under way shortly.
“We look forward to working with a range of stakeholders,” he said.
“It is simply too early to speculate on possible uses for the existing campus land, though a number of ideas have been raised which include public, private and mixed use of the land.
“The site is large and it is important that any future use directly contributes in a sustainable and innovative manner to the economic and social fabric of the city.”
With the UTAS Inveresk project securing federal government support, Ms Delphin said it was good to see residents part of a conversation about the area’s future.
The university’s move from Newnham presented opportunities for the Australian Maritime College, Property Council of Australia Tasmanian executive director Brian Wightman said.
Mr Wightman said the site had to return to the community and be reactivated.
It was important to avoid a sense of loss in the northern suburbs as UTAS moved away, he said.
How the northern suburbs community was engaged, and making it feel part of the transition of the university’s Newnham site, must be part of the thinking of UTAS and all levels of government, Mr Wightman said.
“Otherwise they’ll lose the community and that’s not what we want.”
At his home in Mowbray, on a break from work, Mr Rai said the Newnham site would be best used as a business centre.
His life in the northern suburbs is full and he has studied several courses, in horticulture, botany and community services, since arriving in Tasmania.
“I love the community and I like to meet the good people of this place.”