Clarence City Council Mayor Brendan Blomeley has expressed deep disappointment at the Minister for Planning’s decision to grant Chambroad’s hotel development at Kangaroo Bay major project status.
“This is absolutely not the right decision. Not only for our city, but for southern Tasmania, and the state,” said Mayor Blomeley.
“In our opinion, the proposal was identical to that which was rejected by Minister Fergusson last September and still does not possess the necessary attributes to qualify as a major project. We cannot understand how Minister Ellis could have arrived at this decision.
“We are in the middle of a legal process to buy back the land, at the very least, a decision on the major project status should have been deferred until the issue of land ownership has been resolved.
“The City of Clarence has the legal right to buy the land back from Chambroad. We have already invested significant time and resources, including public funds, into exercising council’s legal right to return this land back to public ownership.
“Granting major project status before the legal proceedings have concluded risks wasting a significant about of public money, and resources at a state and local government level.
“This decision sets a dangerous precedent and a very low threshold for future major projects applications in Tasmania.
“This will lead to more and more local planning authorities being bypassed.
“Along with the draft Development Assessment Panel Bill, and the Land Use Planning and Approvals Amendment (Supporting Development) Bill introduced to Parliament this week, the Minister is seemingly seeking to take planning control away from local governments and place those decisions under his direct control.
“These proposed legislative changes, evidenced by this most recent decision, risk undermining the entire Tasmanian Planning Scheme mechanism in favour of a system that is less transparent and potentially contrary to the wishes of our communities.
“This government has stated they want to take the politics out of planning, and their answer to that is to put the power squarely in the hands of a single Minister – How is that taking the politics out of planning?”