City of Launceston move to refuse development application for Paterson Street

City of Launceston councillors debated over the convenience of car parks and upholding sustainable strategies.

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The proposed 41-55 Paterson Street development is a multi-storey, multi-use building, including retail stores, residential apartments and 212 commercial car parks.

Before councillors began their debate, the development's planner, ARTAS Architect's Scott Curran spoke for the application.

"This project has been 14 years in the making," he said. "It was first approved with conditions in 2008 for ground floor retail with five floors of parking and 429 parking spaces."

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After a federal court case over a sales contract, a development application was submitted by Car Park Super in December 2021.

It was six months ago the firm was told that the application was recommended for refusal based on the car park numbers.

"The building was designed with additional height for the floor to allow for future conversion in this building if car parking ever becomes redundant or commercially unviable," Mr Curran said.

The firm was told this was not an acceptable solution. Mr Curran said they were advised by council officers to submit a new application with a reduced amount of parks.

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Councillors Alan Harris and deputy mayor Danny Gibson argued against the development and to follow recommendations to not provide approval.

Cr Harris said the reason the area is exempt is to reduce the circulation of cars and make Launceston a pedestrian safe city.

"This very easily integrates with the parking precinct plan, the transport strategy, and this has been ongoing since 2012, so this is not new," he said.

Cr Gibson said going against council strategies would not create a "city of the future."

"This is not the city we are aiming to achieve," he said.

"I understand for some people it is difficult for us to not back a development of this scale, but at the same time, we are offering an opportunity to achieve compliance.

"You can't be going to create a sustainable city one day and not backing it up the next, you either have these documents that guide the city or you don't."

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The site falls under a parking exemption area under the Launceston Interim Planning Scheme 2015. The application also goes against the Parking and Sustainable Transport Code.

Cr Tim Walker added his concerns people will still choose to drive and need parking. "Alternative ways might not be suitable for everyone," he said.

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