A 26-unit housing development in Hobart’s Lenah Valley has cleared a legal hurdle over parking, with Tasmania’s planning tribunal ruling there is enough on-street parking to cope with any overflow.
Late last month, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal dismissed a local resident’s appeal against the $6.62 million development at 3A Giblin Street, backing Hobart City Council’s original approval.
The resident argued the project would create parking headaches, offering just 40 spaces when planning rules usually call for 61 for a development of this size.
The proposal includes 21 two-bedroom and five three-bedroom units on an 8,500-square-metre block.
Under the plan, each two-bedroom unit gets one parking spot and each three-bedroom unit gets two, falling short of the standard two spaces per dwelling for homes with two or more bedrooms.
Even so, the tribunal decided there would be plenty of street parking nearby to make up the difference.
The dispute came down to clashing traffic surveys that told very different stories about parking demand.
The resident’s traffic expert reported that 44% of nearby street spaces were occupied during peak evening hours, while the developer’s expert put the figure as low as 8% using aerial surveys.
The tribunal gave less weight to the resident’s evidence after learning around 20 of the surveys were carried out by the resident personally rather than by independent contractors.
The tribunal also found public transport in the immediate area was poor, noting the nearest bus stops involve navigating “a steep embankment” and rough ground that would be “almost impossible for anyone with a pram”.
Despite these transport hurdles, the tribunal concluded the development still meets residents’ “reasonable needs” under the planning rules.
