The Premier has directed the Tasmanian Planning Commission to prepare guidelines as the first stage of an integrated assessment of the Macquarie Point Multipurpose Stadium as a Project of State Significance (PoSS). This is the same process as was utilised for the Gunns pulp mill in 2007 and the Ralphs Bay canal estate in 2010.

The guidelines must be available by 16 February 2024.  Draft guidelines were published on 4 December 2023.  The Commission is inviting public comment on these (watch for our next post for help with this – coming soon) and has set a deadline of close of business on Monday 8 January 2024.

That’s 35 days.  But most people are on holidays through most of this period.  Most businesses are closed from 21 December to 8 January.  The real consultation period is 17 days, through what is, for most people, the busiest time of the year.

Click below to read more about the stages in this PoSS process and the current state of play.

This project, if approved, will have monumental impacts on the state’s economy, on the Mac Point area and on the amenity of Hobart.

It is vital that Tasmanians have an adequate opportunity to help develop the assessment guidelines.

The Commission has been given a timeline that is ridiculous and designed to shut us out.

The draft guidelines document runs to 36 pages.  It is a dense read.

The Premier knows exactly what he is doing!

At Our Place we believe that there must be a realistic timeframe for this process to ensure thorough public scrutiny at every stage.  Tasmanians have a right to a proper say on this project.  We are the ones who will have to live with it if it is ever approved.

That’s why we are asking you to contact the Premier.  Demand that he extends the timeline for this process.  We can flood his inbox with messages.  We can let him know that we will not accept tokenistic consultation jammed in the busiest time of the year, and in our holiday season.