Central Hobart Plan

Hobart has experienced steady population growth in recent years and its population and employment are expected to increase even further.

The Central Hobart Plan will allow the City to accommodate the more than 7000 new residents expected to make their home in Hobart by 2041. Such an increase in population will require the building of approximately 3700 new dwellings.

Hobart is an important employment hub for Tasmania and the plan has identified the need to accommodate an extra 11,500-plus workers. The plan will provide new opportunities for living and working in a way that enhances the city centre's liveability for all.

The plan also provides recommendations for policies, strategies, development controls and projects to guide planning and sustainable growth:

• the plan addresses land use, built form, open space and infrastructure needs

• it provides guidance for specific precincts

• it starts to tackle key issues such as building heights, affordable and social housing, transport and accessibility, and the need for more and improved open space.

Now that Council has endorsed the final Central Hobart Plan, the City of Hobart, with our partners, will start turning the plan into reality.

An implementation program will be developed in 2024 and progress will be reported to Council annually.

The draft Central Hobart Plan covers 64 city blocks bounded by Davey Street to the south, Burnett Street to the north, the Brooker Highway to the east and Molle, Melville and Harrington streets to the west.

The plan divides Central Hobart into five precincts – Civic and Cultural, Innovation, Trinity Hill, Rivulet and Central.

The development of the draft Central Hobart Plan was undertaken in three stages, and follows extensive project scoping, planning and analysis.

Initially referred to as the Central Hobart Precincts Plan, the Central Hobart Plan has evolved significantly thanks to the collective effort and input of experts, government, businesses and the community.

The original impetus for the Central Hobart Plan was the potential challenges and opportunities created by renewed growth in Hobart, including building heights and proposals for buildings taller than what was common.

The public engagement process for the Central Hobart Plan started in 2020 with the release of the Baseline Report, which formed stage one of the engagement process.

The project was on hold through most of 2020 due to COVID-19, but re-ignited with the release of a discussion paper in late 2021. This formed stage two of the engagement process.

All of the analysis, research and stakeholder and community feedback led to the development of the draft Central Hobart Plan, which was released for public consultation in April 2023.

Stage three of the engagement process provided the City of Hobart with a better understanding of community views on the proposed actions and built form controls, desirable movement and open space outcomes.

One of the key means to implement the Central Hobart Plan will be to amend the Local Provisions Schedule of the Tasmanian Planning Scheme – Hobart.

The planning amendments will involve their own statutory process at a later date.

Once approved future development in Central Hobart will be assessed against these planning scheme controls.

The City of Hobart will also invest in Central Hobart through capital works such as street improvements to help create a city centre that delivers on a vision for a vibrant economic, cultural and people focused place for all.

To do this the City of Hobart will partner with the Tasmanian Government, businesses, and the community.

All the reports, including the approved Central Hobart Plan and the stage three engagement report, are available on the Your Say Hobart website.

This project was conducted as a partnership between the City of Hobart and the Tasmanian Government.