Next Monday (8/12/2025) the Glenorchy Planning Authority will consider a Planning Application for six units on a piece of vacant land shown in this map.

A bit of historical trivia. Back in 2018 the then State Government passed the Housing Land Supply Act. Since then a grand total of 14 Housing Supply Orders have been created under the Act (see a full list here). One, gazetted in December 2022, contains the land on which Homes Tasmania intends to construct six units .

While I’m pleased that the land may finally put to a worthwhile use, there are some aspects of the proposal that are interesting. That proposal will be decided on Monday. You can read the entire agenda item here (it is the only agenda item). You can watch the proceedings in an online livestream if you wish.

First, the boundaries of the land have been carefully calculated so that the proposed dwellings are outside the flood-prone hazard area (i.e. flooding of Faulkner’s Rivulet). The front of the units faces the rivulet.

Second, the courtyards (i.e. their private open space) of units 5 and 6 are partially below street level. That does make one wonder whether people walking along Link Road above them will have a view into the courtyards (or potentially into the dwellings). Privacy could be an issue. What is more, despite those courtyards facing south, the report says they receive “adequate sunlight”. Residents may find themselves spending more of their time on the deck facing north, facing the rivulet, getting more sun.

Finally, we once again see an application that does not provide the amount of off-street parking that would not require a discretion (read Code C2.5.1 here). The code dictates that this application must have at least 14 parking spaces. The proposal provides only 8, two of which are labelled as “visitor”.

As usual, a rationale has been found to allow the provided eight to “accord with the performance criteria”. A condition has been added to the proposed permit which states:

Additional overflow carpark onto Allunga Road is to be prevented by restricting the households to one (1) car per dwelling. This restriction is to be managed and enforced by Homes Tasmania and subsequent property managers for the design life of the unit development. Prior to the issue of building approval and/or commencement of works (whichever occurs first), detail on how single vehicle restriction is to be enforced must be submitted and approved as a Condition Endorsement, to the satisfaction of the Council’s Senior Traffic Engineer or Development Engineer.

The absurdity of this condition becomes clear when you realize that there is no lack of on-street parking on Allunga Road. So why fuss over it? For such a small development, it seems that time spent attempting to enforce single-vehicle households is time that could be used more productively elsewhere. And how is the enforcer to determine whether a vehicle parked on the street is attached to one of the units?

The Traffic Impact Assessment supports the figure of eight by using statistics from Melbourne and southern Tasmania to claim that “car ownership is lower for social housing in Tasmania”. Curiously though, the latest draft seen by the author of the Glenorchy Parking Plan that council is currently preparing does not distinguish between social and non-social housing for parking requirements.

In conclusion, minimum off-street parking requirements prove once again to have no practical value. The developer knows best what is appropriate, and their proposed quantity is invariably accepted by the Planning Authority.