Proposal for public walkway around waterside mansions survives vote
A proposal for a waterfront walkway around Hobart's historic Battery Point suburb has been debated for decades. The plan has lived to see another day, despite the local council's CEO recommending it be abandoned.
Hobart City Council has decided to continue examining the plan to construct a walkway behind several waterside mansions, which would link Sandy Bay and the Hobart CBD. The council's chief executive, Michael Stretton, advised the council not to discontinue pursuing the proposal due to the impossibility of terminating Crown licences for private jetties and boatsheds.
The council unanimously adopted a motion requesting its CEO to obtain copies of the Crown licences to assess their break clauses. The council has sided with maintaining the waterfront walkway proposal connecting Sandy Bay and the Hobart CBD. The chief executive's recommendation to discontinue the proposal was due to its dependence on altering Crown licences held by property owners, a task the council is unable to accomplish.
The proposal for a harbourside walkway has been a contentious issue for decades, with plans dating back to the 1990s. The council approved an offshore walkway in 2014, but the project was abandoned after TASCAT upheld an appeal against the development approval. The most recent proposal, submitted by the Friends of Battery Point Walkway Group, would create a walkway extending from AJ White Park in Battery Point to Errol Flynn Reserve in Sandy Bay.
The proposal will proceed after the council voted against the recommendation to discontinue it, with a six-to-five margin. Fourteen Crown licences are held along the proposed walkway route.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
