Key stakeholders, including the Tasmanian business, tourism and creative sectors, have been briefed by the Macquarie Point Development Corporation on the bold new vision for the site.
Over a two week period Interim CEO Mary Massina held a total of 10 briefings with groups that included members of the property industry, tenants and neighbours, consultants and contractors, utilities, Antarctic and science sectors, arts and culture, media and members of parliament.
The focus of the briefings was to update stakeholders on amendments to the Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme to support development of the Macquarie Point site under the reset.
The discussion concentrated on the new masterplan (the 2017-2030 Reset Masterplan) and the planning scheme amendments the corporation has created since the State Government reset the vision for the site in December last year in alignment with MONA’s plans.
Amendments to the planning scheme must be approved via the public exhibition and hearing processes of the Hobart City Council and the Tasmanian Planning Commission.
The former masterplan was very prescriptive about where and what buildings and developments were going to be. As the nature of the site has changed from commercial and residential to civic and institutional the new masterplan sets out use zones.
There are three zones –open space (which accounts for more than 50 per cent of the site), arts and institutional (such as research and development centres, educational facilities, art and cultural spaces), and mixed use (such as hotels, retail, cafes and restaurants, museums and art galleries, and office space).
Permitted height limits under the new masterplan are slightly more conservative than the former plan, to preserve sight lines to and from the site.
The corporation expects the amendments to be through the planning process by April, 2018 and will put a floor under investment certainty.
Also discussed during the briefings was the proposal for the River to Cove Cycleway to improve linkages to and through the site. In conjunction with the Hobart City Council, the corporation is proposing an extension to the existing Intercity Cycleway, joining up where it currently ends on the Domain and traversing through Macquarie Point.
Importantly, the new cycleway will allow Hobartians to use a site, which has previously been locked away due to its industrial history, through cycling and walking and for the first time it integrates Macquarie Point into the continual link from Glenorchy through to Salamanca in a safe way.
Other items raised during the briefings included retaining the rail corridor and working with TasWater on noise and odour modelling for the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Tasmanian Business Reporter 
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