The Clarence City Council has voted against pursuing housing development in Charles Hand Park following strong community opposition.
“Affordable and key worker housing” for the park had previously been outlined in the City Heart Plan, but was permanently scrapped at Monday night’s council meeting.
The decision came after consultation with 317 residents, which revealed “clear and strong opposition” to housing in both Charles Hand Park and Rosny Parklands.
Mayor Brendan Blomeley backed the decision to pursue alternative projects for the park instead.
“Can I just place on the record that I have never, ever been a supporter of any housing in Charles Hand Park,” he said.
“This city is crying out for a city heart. No longer are we a dormant commuter suburb for Hobart. That changed 50 years ago with the Tasman Bridge disaster and to suggest otherwise is just ridiculous.”
“We are growing at a great rate of knots. We need to step up, we need to be professional and we need to lead.”
Deputy Mayor Allison Ritchie described the move to note consultation findings and have the CEO finalise the City Heart Plan as a “sensible” approach.
“I think that the community has sent, in my view, a very loud and clear message about Charles Hand Park and support for ensuring that we don’t have a future that includes housing located in the park,” she said.
Not all councillors agreed with the decision. Councillor Daniel Hume, who proposed an alternative motion to keep the option of key worker housing on the table, argued the proposal had merit.
“If you add together the Rosny Parklands and Charles Hand Park, you have 21 hectares, which is a massive amount of public open space. And we’re talking about a small section of Charles Hand Park,” Hume said.
“If we’re going to get value out of our public open spaces, the way to do that is to get people using them, to activate them. And that is one of the opportunities that this housing proposal offers.”
Councillor Wendy Kennedy said her “social conscience” wouldn’t allow her to support the removal of potential housing from the plan.
“[This] could be an opportunity for a small amount of people to have some affordable housing … in an amazing place … with all the rest of the public open space that will be available,” she said.
“I don’t think that I have the right to deny someone that opportunity.”
The final decision authorises the chief executive officer to proceed with finalising the City Heart Plan, keeping Charles Hand Memorial Park within the plan but explicitly excluding affordable housing.
