An injection of jobs will benefit Launceston in the coming years, after the University of Tasmania announced an operational shuffle.
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The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture will relocate to UTAS' Northern campus as part of a broader vision to move away from a hub-and-spoke model to a regionally sensitive one.
UTAS vice-chancellor Rufus Black said the move would take several years, but the plan would be to headquarter TIA at the Newnham campus, which is part of its master plan for the area.
A professional services hub that will service the operations of the university statewide will also be established at Newnham.
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It is unknown yet how many jobs will be affected by the changes.
The hub-and-spoke model has been adopted by UTAS for the past several years, with Hobart being the main hub for courses and operations and the spokes being the campuses in Launceston and Burnie.
However, with significant infrastructure developments in place as part of the Northern Transformation Plan, UTAS announced soon after it would abandon the hub-and-spoke model and instead focus on consolidating the strengths of each region and operating accordingly.
Each region in Tasmania has been mapped by UTAS to its unique regional strengths.
For example, Northern Tasmania has been identified as having strong agricultural, maritime and small business strengths.
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The North-West has been identified as having strong links to advanced manufacturing, mining and ICT.
"Our strategy commits us to be a university which operates in a regionally networked way," Professor Black said.
"That means having enough people in each of our locations to ensure they are dynamic, exciting places that are embedded in ways which supports the local community and economy."
Professor Black said the University's presence would provide the building blocks at Newnham for a dynamic mixed-use precinct which would support the future of Launceston's northern suburbs.
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He said it had been developed in partnership with the Launceston City Deal objectives in mind.
"The goal of the City Deal is to make Launceston one of the most liveable and innovative regional cities in the nation by 2027.
"We share that goal, and this masterplan, and the way it will help shape the future of Newnham and Inveresk, will be a vital part of realising that."
