Mr Gutwein said his advice was that even if the future plans for a 25-storey hotel development in Launceston met other criteria, such as having a large economic impact, it would not be a major project.

“If a project would make a significant financial or social contribution as a result of it being tall, then the fact that it’s tall basically rules it out because I have got to disregard height,” he said.

“The way that the legislation has been drafted specifically is on the basis that the major projects are complex, not projects which are tall like skyscrapers.”

His comments come after director of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust Peter McGlone criticised the proposed legislation.

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“Contrary to the Minister's public claims, the legislation will provide him with new powers to take the proposed 210 metre high Fragrance Tower development away from the Hobart City Council and have it fast tracked with no possibility of appeals,” Mr McGlone said.

“He can do the same for the proposed Launceston Fragrance hotel.

“The Minister changed the legislation to state that a high building cannot be declared a major project solely because it fails to comply with council height limits, but as long the Fragrance skyscrapers fit one of the many major projects criteria they will be fast tracked.”

Mr Gutwein denied the claims and said local councils were capable of assessing skyscrapers.

“A large hotel building would fit adequately within the current planning system,” he said,

“It’s not overly complex and it’s certainly something that the Launceston City Council has experience with.”

According to the trust the legislation will remove appeal rights from a much wider range of projects than are currently excluded by projects of regional significance legislation.

“The other major problem with the legislation is that the community will have no right of appeal over approvals, including people directly affected by a major project, and even no right to challenge the merits of an approved development through the Supreme Court,” Mr McGlone said.

But the Planning Minister said the public would have the opportunity to lodge objections and take part in hearings before an independent panel.

“As Minister the only role that I would play would be whether or not [a project] would come into this process, the assessment is conducted by independent experts appointed by the Tasmanian Planning Commission,” Mr Gutwein said.

However, all appointments to the panel must be approved by the Planning Minister. This is to ensure “an appropriate rotation of panel members occurs” according to Mr Gutwein.

The power was not part of the legislation provisions for Projects of Regional Significance, on which the draft law was based.

The draft legislation can be viewed on the Department of Justice webpage and is open for public comment until October 2.