Tasmania’s housing and civil construction industries say yesterday’s release of defence land at Dowsing Point is a major opportunity to ease Hobart’s housing pressure but governments must back it with infrastructure funding to deliver.
The 30-hectare site at Derwent Barracks in Glenorchy will be redeveloped into a new suburb of up to 1,000 homes under a joint deal announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jeremy Rockliff.
HIA executive Tasmanian director Benjamin Price said the announcement was a practical move on supply.
“This is a positive and practical step toward increasing housing supply in Tasmania,” Price said.
“Up to 1,000 new homes is a strong opportunity to ease greater Hobart’s housing challenges.”
Price said the location made the site well suited to new housing.
“Dowsing Point is close to established suburbs, services and major transport corridors, which makes it a strong location for new housing that responds to current and future demand,” he said.
The site sits two kilometres from the Glenorchy CBD, close to the Intercity Cycleway and the planned Wilkinsons Point development.
It will also include parks, local shops, community facilities and a future ferry terminal.
Civil Contractors Federation Tasmania chief executive Andrew Winch said the civil sector was ready to get on the tools and deliver.
“Housing construction doesn’t start when the builders turn up,” he said.
“It starts when civil contractors prepare the land, build roads, lay pipes, manage stormwater and connect the services that make new homes possible.”
He said the project should be treated as a major infrastructure priority, not just a land release.
“To get the site ready, the Tasmanian and Australian governments will have to commit to building the water and sewerage, power, gas, communications and road infrastructure needed,” he said.
“It’s a big job, but if governments fund it properly, we’re up to the task of delivering.”
Both Price and Winch said federal infrastructure funding would be critical to turning the announcement into homes.
“Targeted investment in enabling infrastructure can make the difference between land sitting idle for years and homes being built,” Price said.
Winch said long-term projects like Dowsing Point gave the industry certainty to plan ahead.
“Projects like this, alongside the [Macquarie Point] stadium, mean we can plan for the future of the sector with confidence,” he said.
Around 20 full-time defence personnel are still based at the site, with the transfer expected to take at least 12 months.
Price said delivery would be the real test.
“This announcement is a welcome step, but delivery of homes is what ultimately matters,” he said.
