The Tasmanian government has faced questions in parliament over the Crown licences standing in the way of Hobart’s Battery Point waterfront walkway, a day after the city council voted to keep the proposal alive.
The Hobart City Council voted six to five on Monday against a recommendation to abandon the 1.1-kilometre path, which would link AJ White Park at Battery Point with Errol Flynn Reserve at Sandy Bay.
The issue reached state parliament during question time on Tuesday.
Parks and Heritage Minister Nick Duigan was asked how many Crown licences run along the foreshore between the two parks, how many follow the standard licence template and how many do not.
He took the figures on notice but rejected suggestions he was not interested in the walkway.
“[I] reject your characterisation of my lack of interest in the project,” Duigan said.
“I have engaged with the Hobart City Council on this.”
Duigan said the proposed route passed a number of properties held under leases and licences and those rights could not be brushed aside.
“Property rights, you know, do matter,” he said.
“If you have a lease and a licence, it is important that you are considered through these processes.”
He said he would not override those arrangements and wanted the council to lead talks with affected licence holders.
“I would encourage council to work with those people, those affected residents, to find a pathway forward,” he said.
Asked how those property rights could sit alongside public access over the same Crown land, Duigan said licence holders would be central to any outcome.
“They are very key stakeholders in this and I would encourage council to have those conversations with those people,” he said.
The exchange came after a council meeting at which chief executive Michael Stretton presented a report recommending the walkway proposal be dropped.
He said it relied on changes to Crown licences covering private jetties, slipways and boatsheds, which the council has no power to make.
His report found “strong opposition” from owners, with “no realistic prospect” of them agreeing to change or surrender their licences.
A council-commissioned survey of 400 residents in 2024 found 89% supported the walkway.
After the vote, councillor Mike Dutta successfully moved for the CEO to obtain copies of those licences so their break clauses could be checked.
Stretton said newer licences under the current template included break clauses, but older ones might not.
A petition sponsored by independent MP Helen Burnet, calling for a review of the licence arrangements, has gathered more than 590 signatures.
Councillors Mike Dutta, Ryan Posselt, Gemma Kitsos, Ben Lohberger and Bill Harvey joined Acting Lord Mayor Zerlinda Sherlock in voting to keep the walkway proposal alive.
Louise Elliot, Will Coats, John Kelly, Louise Bloomfield and Marti Zucco backed the recommendation to abandon the project.
