Glenorchy City Council

A VIBRANT COMMUNITY HUB

Bec Thomas, the Mayor of Glenorchy City Council, is spearheading the development of a city close to her heart

Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Ryan Gray

I’m Glenorchy born and bred, and I’ve lived here all 38 years of my life.”

Bec Thomas lives and breathes Glenorchy, the fourth largest city in the Australian island state of Tasmania and home to almost 48,000 people.

Experienced at all three levels of government in both an administrative and strategic capacity, Thomas has been the elected Mayor of Glenorchy City Council since June 2021, bringing steady and purposeful leadership to the city she loves.

“As Mayor, I am driven to make our municipality the best it can be, particularly by improving health and economic outcomes. I love Glenorchy, I’m proud to be from here, and I care about its people,” Thomas proclaims. demographics, with more than 12 percent born overseas and almost a tenth of households speaking a language other than English.

“Glenorchy embraces diversity and different cultures, and we celebrate a community in which everyone is accepted no matter what their background is,” affirms Thomas.

“We also celebrate our arts, with the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) and the Moonah Arts Centre exhibiting arts produced both locally and internationally.”

Indeed, Glenorchy entertains an emerging and thriving cultural arts scene, attracting over 450,000 visitors a year to MONA alone. The recently refurbished MyState Bank Arena, home to the Tasmania Jack

STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY

Only seven kilometres north of the Tasmanian capital, Hobart, Glenorchy is renowned for its beautiful parks, stunning nature reserves, tourist attractions, walking and mountain biking trails, plus the spectacular views of Mount Wellington.

In addition to being the industrial hub of Hobart, the city is varied and diverse, from the lively central business districts (CBD) of Moonah and Glenorchy, to the innovation precinct of Prince of Wales Bay, the tranquil shores of the River Derwent and the rolling foothills of Mount Wellington.

Much like its geography, the population of Glenorchy also comprises a diverse array of

Jumpers Basketball Team, also provides a state-of-the-art events and sporting facility for locals and visitors.

Meanwhile, Glenorchy plays host to an exciting business community that accommodates both light and heavy industry as well as several thriving retail and commercial precincts, and is one of three bustling CBDs under the local governance of Glenorchy City Council.

“Glenorchy CBD is a service hub where you can pay your rates, get grocery shopping done and sit in the sun before a doctor’s appointment,” Thomas says.

“Then we have the funky, multicultural CBD of Moonah where you can grab a latte or eat a samosa whilst checking out the local art, and finally the Claremont CBD, where you can catch up with friends for coffee and cake before heading to the foreshore for a stroll.”

With a strong manufacturing base, an industrious and diversified economy, and a development pipeline promising thousands of jobs in the next decade, there are plenty of opportunities in Glenorchy.

Just a 15-minute drive from Hobart and benefitting from cheaper commercial and residential prices, it also represents an attractive opportunity for investors and firsttime buyers.

“Housing is more affordable here than in Hobart, and there are a range of accommodation options including apartments closer to the CBDs, family homes in the suburbs and rural acreages. There’s something here to suit every individual and family,” elaborates Thomas.

GREATER GLENORCHY PLAN

Glenorchy City Council has a clear vision for the area, one that emanates pride, culture, community spirit and exciting new opportunities.

“To achieve our vision, we need to understand who we are and what our story is. We need to share that story to encourage people to visit, live and work here,” outlines Thomas.

In 2020, Glenorchy City Council interviewed 100 residents to better understand what people love about Glenorchy, Moonah and Claremont through an engagement campaign

Confidence in Glenorchy

Claremont City Developments, a Tasmanian based property and investment company, is committing to its belief that Glenorchy is the place to be with their proposal of a large Mixed Use Residential Development on the shores of Windermere Bay.

The Windermere Bay Precinct project is a 3.75 hectare mixed use development comprising 261 apartments, 54 townhouses, Childcare Centre, Café, Community Hall and local shopping spaces, on the old Claremont Primary School site in the local government area of Glenorchy, 14 kilometres north of Hobart, Tasmania.

The proposal is a new model for Tasmania which traditionally has very low density housing. The developers believe Tasmania, and in particular, Glenorchy has matured enough to support medium density housing in areas that would have otherwise been lost to less sustainable quarter acre divisions.

The residential programme provides a range of dwelling types for a broad demographic of the community, from contemporary townhouses, to apartments ranging from single bedroom dwellings to four-bedroom penthouse apartments. A number of Independent Living Units are also proposed across the site with communal access to a number of activity areas. The site is planned around two large green spaces which make the most of river views and old school buildings which will be restored and given publicly accessible programmes.

The project is in keeping with the aspirations of the 2020 Greater Glenorchy Plan in terms of increasing density along the transport corridor heading north out of Hobart. The residents of the site will increase the utilisation of services provided by the local precincts of Claremont, Glenorchy and Moonah and will by its scale help justify the development of a mass transport option along this corridor which is a grand aspiration of the area.

Hobart house values have increased by 26.8 per cent in the past year, the highest rise in the nation . These have been driven by a housing shortage and increased population growth. The Rental Affordability Index, the latest annual report on rental affordability, has once again found Hobart is the least affordable city, with the average household spending 34 percent of its income on rent if renting at the median rate . It is this need for quality affordable housing which is what Claremont City Developments is proposing to satisfy at Windermere Bay.

The project has been designed by one of Tasmania’s most awarded architectural firms, Circa Morris-Nunn Chua. A representative of the architects reported, “We received a very positive response from the community for the project as many really want to see the school buildings preserved, and the offer of a waterfront café, local shops and a childcare centre was very well received.”

claremontcitydevelopment@hotmail.com

The Mayor and Glenorchy City Council Ministers at the Jobs Hub official opening

called ‘Beyond the Curtain’.

The findings of the ‘Beyond the Curtain’ campaign helped Glenorchy City Council to develop future plans for the three cities, to ensure they reflect their respective identities and stories.

These future plans were formalised under the Greater Glenorchy Plan, endorsed by Glenorchy City Council in February 2021, to formulate a vision and precinct plan for each CBD that will guide future development up until 2040.

“Each precinct plan seeks to create places for people that feel welcoming and reflect who we are; provide connections for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles; support job creation, economic growth and increased density; and promote a greener, innovative Glenorchy,” Thomas details.

“We are now implementing these precinct plans, putting mechanisms and processes in place to enable decisionmakers to create the future visions our community has identified.”

Glenorchy City Council is also placemaking to create active hubs that attract residents of all ages, cultures, incomes and aspirations. As such, it is working to increase the attractiveness of its activity centres, create investment opportunities, and encourage people to come and spend time in Glenorchy.

SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY

Since 2011, Glenorchy’s unemployment rate has remained around three percent higher than the Tasmanian average.

There is a disproportionately high dependency on government benefits in the city, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated unemployment in Glenorchy as almost 1,800 jobs succumbed to the pandemic.

“We are tackling unemployment by growing our economy and creating jobs, through an economic development strategy and the facilitation of our $1.9 billion development pipeline, as well as helping local people to access local jobs created through our Jobs Hub,” affirms Thomas.

The Jobs Hub will provide local people with the training and skills required to take up nearly 1,500 vacancies that the $1.9 billion

Spotlight Group Holdings

The Spotlight Group’s new Glenorchy Spotlight Centre on Howard Road in Glenorchy is a single level centre of almost 8,000 sqm and includes national retailers Spotlight, Anaconda, Petstock together with local Tasmanian business the Red Square Cafe (due to open in early 2022).

The Spotlight Group recognises both Hobart and Tasmania as an area of significant growth and opportunity. Development of the centre itself has generated well in excess of 60 direct and indirect jobs during the construction period and through to the official opening. Additionally, there are almost 200 retail jobs that will further drive Tasmania’s economic growth.

The site is centrally located and readily accessible from the Hobart Central Business District as well as Brooker Highway from either the Howard Road or Lampton Ave main exits. And it’s right next to Bunnings Glenorchy and the Hobart Showgrounds which already draws a large number of customers.

It has plenty of car parking, with almost 250 spaces available. There is also the future development of the Hobart Showgrounds, which will increase the number of people living and working in the area.

A feature of the Glenorchy Spotlight Centre is the Red Square Cafe, which will be familiar to locals who have experienced their Cambridge store. From humble beginnings, the team at Red Square started feeding the hungry shoppers of Cambridge and they will now be doing the same at the Glenorchy Spotlight Centre.

Their team of talented chefs have created a fun and inventive dine-in menu that offers something for everyone.

info@spotlightgroup.com

development pipeline will bring.

Delivered by STEPS, a specialist employment service provider, the Jobs Hub is a community-led initiative that supports both jobseekers and employers to increase the employment of people out of work. It focuses on those that experience barriers to work, including skills gaps and literacy and numeracy difficulties, as well as migrants, people with disabilities, and young adults.

“The Jobs Hub model provides oneon-one coaching to help jobseekers to secure a local job,” Thomas explains.

“Jobs Coaches at the Hub each specialise in our city’s key employment sectors to support local people to find jobs and training opportunities in the likes of manufacturing, construction, tourism, hospitality, retail, healthcare and social services.”

With the help of a $1.3 million grant from the Tasmanian government, the Jobs Hub was established and developed by Glenorchy City Council together with 33 local employers, seven schools, 10 industry organisations and 19 community and social support institutions.

It also profiles and celebrates the successes of local jobseekers, as well as local career opportunities, through the Jobs Champions programme.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

To complement the $1.9 billion development pipeline, Glenorchy City Council is driving further growth in the local economy through the Glenorchy Economic Development Strategy.

It was created in late 2019 by businesses, governments, educators, not-for-profits and investors, who all came together to come up with actions to grow the city’s economy.

“The Glenorchy Economic Development Strategy includes

WHY INVEST IN THE CITY OF GLENORCHY?

Developers are interested in investing in the city because it is: • The manufacturing, transport, warehousing and distribution hub for southern Tasmania. • Home to the Prince of Wales

Bay Marine Precinct and the

Tasmanian Technopark. • Ideally located nearby the Hobart

CBD and Hobart International

Airport. • Linked by excellent road networks and has close access to the Brighton-based Tasmanian

Intermodal Transport Hub. • A dynamic and developing economic base founded on a large supply of serviced industrial and commercial areas.

Glenorchy City Council encourages investment across a range of sectors to support economic growth within the municipality. Business diversity, innovation and new technologies are also encouraged to help stimulate jobs, creativity and collaboration.

$1.9 BILLION DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE

Glenorchy City Council is committed to the appropriate development of the city, in order to foster social, cultural and economic benefits for the residents of Glenorchy. The $1.9 billion development pipeline is well underway and is expected to create hundreds of jobs. Projects include the: • $786 million Bridgewater Bridge upgrade • $400 million MONA Hotel • $300 million Wilkinsons Point precinct • $200 million Windermere Bay housing development • $42 million Showgrounds redevelopment In recent months, Glenorchy City Council has also received an unprecedented number of planning, building and plumbing applications, reflecting the growing appetite for development in the city. five objectives and 50 actions, to create jobs for our people and make our city more active and liveable,” says Thomas. “Southern Tasmania’s economy is growing, and this strategy maps out how we can harness that growth.”

Soon after in April 2020, Glenorchy City Council launched Activity City, an online database that showcases local businesses making, trading and providing services in Glenorchy, and encourages residents to buy local.

Businesses can join Activity City for free, upload information about their organisation, and even access business support on the platform. Information about accessing business grants, free advice and programmes, as well as links to sources of government funding, are also provided.

“Glenorchy City Council actively promotes Activity City by uploading videos about local businesses, posting on social media, and advertising on billboards, posters and signs,” Thomas shares.

As for 2022, the Council will continue to drive and facilitate economic growth in Glenorchy, to ensure that it is creating tangible socio-economic and cultural outcomes for all residents and achieving the visions of its communities.

“We are determined to see Glenorchy emerge from the COVID19 pandemic stronger than ever, and importantly, for our residents to be proud to call it home.”

Tel: 02 6216 6800 gccmail@gcc.tas.gov.au www.gcc.tas.gov.au