News from tonight’s Hobart City Council meeting December 2025

Published on 15 December 2025

Hobart Housing Action Plan - Council Endorsement

The City of Hobart is taking steps to help address housing challenges with the release of its draft Housing Action Plan for community engagement. The plan outlines 19 practical initiatives designed to boost housing supply, diversity and affordability across Hobart. These include incentives for residential development, streamlined planning processes, strategic land use planning, and exemplar projects. Focused on achievable, short-term actions, the plan demonstrates the City’s commitment to creating a more inclusive and sustainable future for our community.

Salamanca Arts Centre - Request for Sponsorship

The City of Hobart will support the creation of a major new immersive artwork at Salamanca Arts Centre as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2027. A $40,000 financial contribution (conditional to successful funding from the Creative Future Fund from Creative Australia) will help bring to life The Land in Which We Stand. This is a site-specific digital installation- by Roar Film that will showcase Hobart’s unique stories and perspectives. This project will enhance the visitor experience, activate Salamanca Place and strengthen Hobart’s reputation as a creative city and cultural destination.

Trees on Private Property

The City of Hobart is moving forward with plans to strengthen tree protection and management on private property. Work will begin on a report exploring best-practice approaches used by councils across Australia, the benefits of introducing local laws or policies, and factors contributing to tree loss. This will help inform future decisions to preserve Hobart’s tree canopy and enhance our city’s natural environment.

Climate Change and Transport Motion - Cr Ben Lohberger

The City of Hobart has requested Council officers investigate reporting annually on all organisational transport emissions generated by council staff and elected members on Council business and includes this transport emissions data in each year’s Annual Report. Further, the reported data be broken down by type so that annual progress can be measured across individual areas.

UTAS Rezoning Notice of Motion - Ald Louise Bloomfield and Cr Ben Lohberger

The Hobart City Council supports the University of Tasmania’s commitment to rejuvenating and rebuilding a STEM centre on the Sandy Bay campus. It notes that there is no business case to fund the STEM facility through the sale of rezoned land above Churchill Avenue. The Council does not support the process of rezoning land through a separate legislative pathway, noting that the University of Tasmania (Protection of Land) Bill 2025 has been supported by the House of Assembly and will likely be considered by the Legislative Council when Parliament resumes in March 2026. It is the Council’s position that the usual statutory rezoning process should be followed. The Council has not considered whether the rezoning itself is appropriate but will do so through the continual development of the Mount Nelson and Sandy Bay Neighbourhood Plan. Council will complete the Neighbourhood Plan promptly, submit it to the Legislative Council for consideration in the University of Tasmania (Protection of Land) Bill 2025 debate, and request that the final decision on the Bill be deferred until the Plan is received.