If you blinked you may have missed the report buried in page 29 of the Mercury a few days ago (August 22, 2020) about the progress report from the Commonwealth Government on the Hobart City Deal.

The Mercury barely mentions public transport. But the section of the progress report that particularly interests me concerns the “Activating the Northern Suburbs Transit Corridor” in pages 17-18.

The term “Transit Corridor” has been used for so many years that many may have forgotten that it actually refers only to the Cycleway and the rail track. Main Road has not been part of the public transport conversation for years.

Once again we see much material that gives the misleading impression that the project is about urban congestion. None of the multitude of reports written about the Rail Corridor (by external consultants or any level of government) makes a credible case that light rail would ever mitigate traffic congestion. For light rail to do so would require major additional funding to move parts of the railway over or under the major thoroughfares such as Elwick Road and Albert Road.

It is really all about urban renewal but that term is buried on the second page where most would miss it. To use $25 million from an Urban Congestion Fund on a project that may well make congestion worse borders on the unethical.

The report does valiantly attempt to create the impression of activity, mentioning some documents that are new to me, with impressive titles such as Northern Suburbs Transit Corridor Precinct Plan, Northern Suburbs Transit Corridor Growth Strategy, and Northern Suburbs Transit Corridor Strategy – reports that probably do not exist.

Finally, the report makes this curious statement that the Hobart City Deal project will
“Continue to explore opportunities for a value capture framework to support potential future funding opportunities for the transport solution in the corridor.”

Even the Tasmanian Labor Party say in their public transport policy that in government they “will test the market for potential operators to run a rail service through a competitive process to facilitate private investment in the project.”

Neither major party sees the proposal as financially attractive.

Clearly every major stakeholder has come to realise that all the alleged benefits of light rail will flow to Glenorchy. State and Commonwealth governments will have learnt by now that their role is to provide funding for construction, maintenance and operation, and that finding funding elsewhere may make the project financially acceptable for them – because it isn’t now.

GCC today (July 28) announced a project to “develop an arts and culture strategy for the City of Glenorchy”. It is searching for a consultant capable of producing the strategy by November 20 this year within a budget of about $50,000. The closing date for quotations is August 7. Eleanor Downes, manager of the Moonah Arts Centre, is the council contact for any queries (which must be made by email).

This may well be the first step in the economic stimulus project named “Showcase” described in the council’s July 2020 quarterly report as “delivering an Arts and Culture Strategy and creative workforce hub”.

The strategy will “present outcomes that address the vision, roles and contributions of Council, arts and cultural stakeholders and other community members”.

To read the full documents, register on the Tenderlink website.

The deliverables are expected to include the following:

• a staged plan for new and existing cultural infrastructure for the city
• policy, plan and budget commitment for Council’s ongoing role in the delivery of events (including commercial)
• opportunities that arts and culture offer to develop tourism in Glenorchy
• vision, plan and ongoing budget commitment for the development, maintenance and protection of public art in the City.
• ongoing plan for the Montrose Bay foreshore, GASP and Wilkinson’s Point areas including commitment to, plan and budget for the delivery of public art within the concept of an arts and sculpture park.

In particular, it acknowledges that selling the DEC may reduce venue for community performing arts that the DEC has offered to-date, such as eisteddfods, primary school bands, and dance groups performance. The consultant is expected to address this issue.

One of the top five priorities for the community as expressed in the GCC Community Plan 2015-2040 is to be “the hub for arts and culture in Tasmania and to forge a national and international reputation as a leading destination for arts tourism”.

Not a hub but the hub. Let’s hope that this ambitious objective was not triggered by optimism borne out of the fortuitous construction of MONA in our midst. It has done wonders for Tasmania and Hobart but we should not over-estimate what it has done for Glenorchy residents. We should leverage it’s popularity but not become dependent on it.

An Arts and Culture Strategy which does not rely on MONA is to be welcomed. All residents should take any opportunities to have their say.