A proposed residential development near the historic Longford Racecourse, strongly opposed by a group of residents, has been approved.
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The Northern Midlands Council approved the plan to subdivide 6.25 hectares of land for 44 lots near Australia's oldest continuously-operating track at Monday night's meeting.
The decision to approve the proposal was not unanimous, as all but two of the nine councillors voted in favour of the development.
One councillor opposed the subdivision, while another left the room due to a conflict of interest.
Councillor Ian Goninon said various stipulations were imposed as a part of the approval, including turning almost three lots worth of the land into a rectangular allotment so that it could be used as a public open space.
Developer Carlton Dixon purchased the land in 2013, before submitting plans to subdivide the three lots into 44 lots with the council earlier this year.
He said the development would only have four houses fronting onto Anstey Street, which faces the racecourse, with 16 other houses already bordering the track.
Mr Dixon said he was relieved that the proposed lots, which would be an average size of about 1200 square metres each, had been approved, but believed he wouldn't be the only beneficiary of the development.
"The big winners are the people who want to live in Longford, especially in a very nice part of it, like where the lots will be, because there is such a shortage of land here," he said.
"I can't see how this development would harm the racecourse in any way ... my family has been in Longford for over a hundred years and the last thing we would want to do is to do anything that would negatively impact the racecourse."
In contrast, Longford Local District Committee's Neil Tubb said the development would be detrimental to the surrounding racecourse.
"The Tasmanian Planning Commission clearly suggested that the Northern Midlands Council should put a strategic plan in place, in conjunction with Tasracing, to protect the surrounding area of the Longford Racecourse," he said.
"This development would affect such a plan, because the area would no longer be used for grazing racehorses at all."
Northern Midlands mayor Mary Knowles said that any appeals should be directed to the Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal.
"It's not very common for community members to take a development to the tribunal, but it does happen on the odd occasion," she said.
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