As with any field of study, a large collection of jargon has been developed. This glossary will expand over time as I come across new terminology.

Activity centre (noun). A term used in Tasmanian planning to refer to a place where people are active. They can be described as “principal”, “primary”, or “major” (whatever those terms mean).

Affordable housing (noun). Housing that is appropriate for the needs of a range of very low to moderate income households and priced so that these households are also able to meet other basic living costs such as food, clothing, transport, medical care and education. As a rule of thumb, housing is usually considered affordable if it costs less than 30% of gross household income. Although affordable housing is sometimes available for purchase, it is most commonly available for rent.

Battleaxe block (noun). A block of land behind another that has access to the street via a long driveway. They are called by their distinct L-shapes, which are said to resemble a battleaxe; the driveway is the “handle”.

Some result from the subdivision of a larger block, leaving one block on the front and the battleaxe block at the back.

In Glenorchy some have become Council property as developer open space contributions as a condition of a subdivision. If they are situated in suburbia, Council has usually found little use for them and left them alone. Council can have difficulty selling them because developers can also have difficulty finding a suitable use.

Brownfield (adj). Used to describe land that has been developed but is not currently in use OR development of that type of land.

Buffer (noun). An area of land provided or retained to provide a separation between industry, hazardous areas, roads and rail corridors, habitat corridors, riparian corridors, waterways and water bodies, residential lots, sporting fields and playgrounds, and other conflicting or incompatible land uses or structures.

Floor area ratio (noun). The ratio of total building floor area to lot area. If the building has more than one floor then the areas of all floors must be included.

Grain (noun). The pattern of the arrangement and size of the buildings on their lots and the subdivision pattern. This pattern or arrangement contributes to the texture of an area. Fine grain, for example, is the quality or fine texture resulting from small and frequent subdivisions.

Greenfield (adj). Used to describe land that has not been developed or is being left to evolve naturally OR development on that type of land.

Greyfield (adj). Used to describe land that is underused (by some measure) OR development of that type of land.

Infill (adj). Used to describe development using vacant or under-utilized land in established neighborhoods for new development or redevelopment.

Land banking (noun). The act of holding land or buying pre-developed parcels of land for future sale or development, typically for the purpose of making capital gains on the value of the land.

Lot coverage rules (noun). Control how much of a lot can be left unbuilt.

Salt and pepper (adj). Describes a residential development combining different housing tenures (usually rental and ownership). Since all dwellings generally look the same, advocates claim it can (a) minimize the stigma attached to subsidized housing and (b) minimize impacts on market housing value that this stigma can lead to. Over time, it also reduces the likelihood of local problems being blamed on tenure, in turn increasing the likelihood of a successful socially mixed community (as measured by community cohesion and social capital).

For example, some recent developments of affordable housing in southern Tasmania have set aside a number of dwellings for sale on the open market. The public rationale may be the alleged benefits of salt and pepper housing; the private rationale may be the subsidization of the affordable housing by the sold dwellings.

Setback (noun). The horizontal distance from the building to a prescribed boundary (such as a site boundary) or other relevant marker (such as the alignment of houses in a street).

Settlement (noun). A general term used in many fields for a permanent or temporary community in which people live, without being specific as to size, population or importance. It can range in size from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas.

Some councils have developed a strategy intended to guide future Council action. For example, the Central Coast Council in north-west Tasmania recently produced a Local Area Settlement Strategy incorporating planning principles, a new settlement hierarchy, and aligned actions for the next 5-10 years. Read it here.

Social housing (noun). Affordable housing provided by the government and community sectors to assist people who are unable to afford or access suitable accommodation in the private rental market. It is generally available to tenants for the duration of their need.

Structure plan (noun). A long term framework to guide and shape future use and development for a defined spatial area. Objectives will vary from plan to plan, and are often based on vision statements arising from an existing strategic plan. But in general terms a plan sets out to:

• Set out where and how this growth and development will occur;
• Ensure development is located and managed appropriately; and
• Ensure that infrastructure and services will meet the needs of the current and future residents.

Read a couple of Tasmanian structure plans downloaded in December 2022 – George Town Structure Plan 2021 and Perth (Tasmania) Structure Plan March 2017.

Urban growth boundary (noun). A line drawn on a map to define the physical extent for long-term (currently 20 years) supply of residential land in a metropolitan area (smaller settlements and suburbs are excluded). In southern Tasmania it includes land for other urban purposes (i.e. commercial and industrial development) as well as pockets of open space and recreational land that assist in providing urban amenity. To view the boundary containing Glenorchy, to the spatial portal at the Department of State Growth and view the Past Residential Development app in the gallery.

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SOURCES

Southern Tasmanian Regional Land Use Strategy (STRLUS). Link here.