Launceston’s prosperous future was signed, sealed and delivered 12 months ago when a historic City Deal was struck by the three tiers of government.
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A year into the deal and headway has been made on a number of major projects that form the deal’s main initiatives.
Launceston has become Tasmania’s test case for the success of City Deals, with Hobart watching on to see how it all unfolds, after signing its own version of the deal in January.
A report card of the deal’s progress was handed to the federal government last week, to update them and the community in the interest of transparency.
UTAS CAMPUS
A development application is expected to be lodged at the end of the year and construction to begin the year after that for the new campus at Inveresk.
The university relocation is the keystone initiative for Launceston’s City Deal.
Principal consultants and architects for the campus were announced on July 9, with a Victorian firm and three Tasmanian architects making up the team.
Internationally renowned architects John Wardle Architects has been appointed principal consultant alongside Tasmanian architects Room 11, 1+2 Architects and Philp Lighton.
UTAS will also develop a community-led master plan for its existing Newnham campus site, in collaboration with the City of Launceston council.
The master plan will identify opportunities to support the continued growth of the Australian Maritime College on the site and identify preferred uses of the vacant land and buildings.
The master plan is expected to be developed in the next year and released to the community at the end of 2018.
PATERSON BARRACKS
The future of Launceston’s historically significant Paterson Barracks is yet to be decided, but the removal of the cadet units has started.
The Defence Department plays a key role in Launceston’s City Deal, with a second cadet facility to be created in the Northern suburbs.
A Defence Department spokesperson said the relocation of the cadets from Paterson Barracks was underway.
“The cadet units located at Paterson Barracks will relocate to the new cadet facility at North Launceston and the existing cadet unit at Youngtown will remain in that location,” the spokesperson said.
“More detailed planning and design work will occur in 2018-19, including identifying a preferred site for the new cadet facility in North Launceston.”
Cadets at Paterson Barracks will continue at the barracks until the new facilities at North Launceston are ready, but the timeline for the build is still uncertain.
“Defence recognises the importance of the barracks to the city of Launceston, which is why the barracks’ heritage values will be protected during the disposal process,” the spokesperson said.
No decisions have been made regarding the future use of the Paterson barracks, however the Defence Department has engaged with several ex-service and local history groups.
ECONOMIC PLAN
A future plan for Launceston and its wider suburbs will be developed in 2018 by the Northern Tasmanian Development Corporation.
The plan will ensure the whole region benefits from the City Deal’s initiatives.
NTDC chief executive Maree Tetlow said preliminary data underpinning their report indicated Northern Tasmania needed to build on its economic upswing.
“We need to develop a particular population strategy to balance our quickly ageing population to achieve economic sustainability,” she said.
“We also need to leverage the UTAS transformation project beyond the construction phase to ensure it delivers long term productivity and associated innovation and educational attainment improvements in our community.”
“Finally, we want to support Industry to invest capital to either start-up business in the region or invest in business expansion, with the ultimate result being to increase our exports to other parts of Australia and overseas.”
“NTDC is keen to talk to any business in our region who has suggestions on what opportunities we could support and also what barriers need to be dealt with to allow more businesses to export out of the region to domestic markets on the mainland and international markets.”
GREATER LAUNCESTON
Launceston’s City Deal is about more than just revitalising the central business district.
The region’s outlying suburbs and adjoining local government areas were also key players in the deal.
The clean-up of the Tamar River plan was in consultation with the Northern councils.
In addition, the regional development plan will feature input from all the Northern councils as it will be funded in part by them.
All nine regional councils have chipped in funds to help develop the regional strategy.
The City of Launceston council will also develop a Northern suburbs plan to outline the future direction of suburbs such as Ravenswood, Rocherlea and Mowbray.
Six pillars have been identified, which will underpin the Northern suburbs plan.
The pillars are: health and wellbeing, infrastructure and public spaces, housing, education, transport and employment and economic growth.
The Greater Launceston transformation project will also bring under its umbrella the local government areas of Launceston, Meander Valley, George Town and West Tamar.
The state government will work with these Northern councils to collarborate and identify key technology needs and opportunities.
“The GLTP aims to address regional challenges of economic growth, education attainment and social inclusion. We are challenging ourselves – to build a socially inclusive thriving community competing on a global stage,” the City Deal documents say.
“The GLTP enables collaboration across four local councils, the Tasmanian Government, higher education and the private sector to deliver outcomes across four main workstreams of: innovation, a digital city, education and employment.”