Councillor Nick Daking will put forward a motion at the next Launceston council meeting for a feasibility study to identify a suitable site for a food business in the mall.

In his motion, Cr Daking said he would like to see more opportunity provided for food businesses to operate in the space.

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He said the study was designed to test the waters and see which new or established businesses would be interested.

"There is a lot of unknowns but in simple terms this motion is designed to take the mystery out of such unknowns," Cr Daking said.

Launceston Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Neil Grose said the council needs an overall plan for the mall.

"It's quite a complex issue but one that needs to be tackled with an overall strategy rather than just approaching it bit by bit," he said.

He said once they knew what people wanted from the mall it would be easier to decide if a food business would be a good idea.

Mr Grose said it was good to see council being proactive in thinking about what could be done with the area.

"It's good that councillors such as Nick Daking are thinking proactively about what we can do with the mall," he said.

"Many millions of dollars have been spent refurbishing the mall and we do have a blank canvas but we just need to think what is the best way to fill in that canvas."

In his recommendation to council, City of Launceston chief executive Michael Stretton said the council would have a limited capacity to complete the report due to heavy workloads and staff vacancies.

"If the Motion is supported, it is estimated that the work could be completed once the annual planning and budget process is completed towards the middle of the year," he said.

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