State Pushes Council Out of Hobart Hotel Planning Process

Controversial plans for a 155-key hotel in Hobart will be assessed by an independent panel after the Tasmanian government declared it a ‘major project’, bypassing input from the local council.

Chinese company Chambroad is behind the $65-million, five-star Kangaroo Bay Hotel project at Rosny. It is part of its overseas investment strategy to build a hotel and hospitality training college in Australia.

The hotel, restaurant, meeting spaces and public boardwalk, as well as space for markets, is planned for a site near the Bellerive Yacht Club on the eastern side of the River Derwent, opposite the CBD.

The plans were rejected by the-then planning minister Michael Fergusson in September of last year.

Clarence City Council was in the process of buying the land back from Chambroad when the state announced the project’s new status.

Tasmanian housing and planning minster Felix Ellis said the governent wanted to balance certainty for proponents and transparency for the community.

▲ The University of Tasmania signed a memorandum of understanding with Chambroad in July 2019 to operate the hospitality school in the project.

“After consideration of the major project proposal, and on advice from the state planning office, I am of the opinion that the project has the necessary attributes to be declared a major project,” Ellis said.

“This development will have a direct impact on the region’s economy, with forecast visitor expenditure growth of $500 million over 10 years.”

Clarence City Council Mayor Brendan Blomeley said he was disappointed by the decision.

“The City of Clarence has the legal right to buy the land back from Chambroad,” Blomeley said.

“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 amount 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.”

▲ A render of the proposed Kangaroo Bay Hotel in Hobart.

The draft Development Assessment Panel Bill, and the Land Use Planning and Approvals Amendment Bill, were introduced to Parliament this week.

Major projects in Tasmania must have at least two of the following attributes: a major impact on the economy; be of strategic importance; or be of a significant scale and complexity.

“The minister is seemingly seeking to take planning control away from local governments and place those decisions under his direct control,” Blomeley said.

The council planned to trigger the buyback clause in the current Sale and Development Agreement, offering the original sale price from 2017 of $2.44 million plus taxes and stamp duty.

The Kangaroo Bay Hotel plan will now be assessed by an independent expert panel appointed by the Tasmanian Planning Commission.

Kangaroo Bay project manager Greg Hudson told media the declaration gave the development the opportunity for a fair hearing.

He said if the independent panel approved the project, construction was expected to begin six months later.