The City of Launceston council made no attempt to save a $10 million Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF) grant earmarked for a Creative Precinct on the Birchalls car park site, Right to Information documents show.
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The Federal Government grant under round four of the BBRF was withdrawn on January 5, 2023.
"I refer to your BBRF Infrastructure stream application submitted to the Department of Infrastructure on 19 December 2019 for the Launceston Creative Hub Precinct project," assistant secretary of the Regional Programs Branch Meghan Hibbert wrote.
"I am writing to inform you that the funding offer of $10,000,000 from the BBRF program has been withdrawn."
After withdrawal of the grant, Mayor Danny Gibson told The Examiner that: "A request to modify the grant application was made in March last year [2022], which we understood was still being considered by the Federal Government right up until we received the notification."
In the RTI request The Examiner sought correspondence between the council and the Department about the grant - in particular any attempt to vary the grant under s12.5 of the BBRF guidelines.
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The council's RTI officer did not provide to The Examiner any information about a request to modify the grant.
The council also sought to assure ratepayers that it was taking action in August 2022 after a Federal Court decision prevented a sale of the car park site.
"In terms of the BBRF grant, the Council will have further discussions with the Federal Government given the recent developments," a statement said.
No documents about "further discussions" were found under RTI.
A council spokesman declined to comment on why no correspondence was turned up in the process.
"Given this [The Examiner's] remains an open and active RTI process, it would not be appropriate for us to provide a response to your question," the spokesman said.
The council had previously been committed to the Creative Precinct and bus interchange.
In 2021, a Federal Court document revealed that the council had agreed to be a guarantor for Creative Property Holdings, the proponent of the $90 million Creative Precinct on the Birchalls car park, in the event that CPH defaulted in its negotiations.
However, a council spokesperson told The Examiner: "No, Council was never in that position"[guarantor].
The council used ratepayer's funds to pay a $1.2 million deposit on behalf of CPH on a then $12 million attempt to purchase of the car park. The amount was later returned.
The council paid $8.3 million for the former Birchalls building with the aim of joining the Brisbane Mall with the proposed bus interchange and also spent about $90,000 in legal fees on various appeals.
Expressions of interest closed recently on developing the Birchalls building and an announcement is expected soon.
Owner of the car park, Don Allen, has a $60 million proposal for a residential, retail and car parking development on the Birchalls site. He was forced to go the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after the council blocked his development for having 25 too many car parking spaces.
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Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
