Ms ROSOL (Bass) – Deputy Speaker, I rise this evening to speak about the relocation of the Heritage Tasmania Northern Office from the Launceston CBD to Prospect. We first heard about this in late December. Just before Christmas, staff in the office were advised that they were going to be moved from their current location in the CBD in the government buildings there. There was quite some concern amongst the staff. I wrote to the premier at the time in early January because the move is being made so that the Premier has more space and so things are more secure there. I have not received a response about that yet, so now I have some questions on notice about it to the minister for Heritage and I am waiting for a response there.
Since that time, I know that things have moved along with the movement of the office. Initially, staff were not consulted at all in this process. They were just told that the move was going to happen. Then the union became involved and were able to represent the staff there. Following the union’s involvement, there was a consultation process that happened. As part of that process, the staff were able to express that they do not want to move from the CBD out to Prospect, but unfortunately the decision has been made for that move to happen regardless of what the staff think and how they feel.
I would like to get on the record here tonight some of the problems with the move from the CBD of Launceston out to Prospect. The current CBD location is beautifully central and well located for the services that Heritage Tasmania staff provide. It is within regular walking distance of a high concentration of heritage buildings within the Launceston central area. Those buildings include the Launceston Gas Works, Boags Brewery, the interpretation centre there, UTAS and Inveresk rail yards, Chalmers Church, Milton Hall, Albert Hall, City Park and Macquarie House. There is also the Launceston City Heart project and many other projects. I am probably a little bit biased, but Launceston’s heritage treasures are many and most of them are located within the centre of Launceston.
Those central buildings make up a significant part of Heritage Tasmania’s workload. The staff need to go out on site to many of those locations so that they can liaise with developers and with people who are wanting to do work in heritage buildings. They might be there doing inspections, offering pre-application advice or undertaking site assessments. They can currently walk there – it takes about 5 to 10 minutes to get to most of those locations. With the move of the office out to Prospect, that will now involve a 30-minute round trip. There will be lost time, there will be increased vehicle and parking costs and most likely a reduction in in‑person service delivery.
This move is not a great move for service provision within Launceston for those people who are doing heritage work and need advice there. The office has been working very well and has been effective. The staff are able to quickly get to meetings and offer a really great service from there. This is not a new issue that has come up. In 2019, this move was proposed, and at the time the Northern Accommodation Project concluded that Heritage Tasmania should not be relocated to Prospect because it would have a significant impact on the day-to-day operations of the office.
At the time, this view was endorsed by the then DPWLI secretary, Tim Baker, and it was supported by the then Premier, Peter Gutwein. It is unfortunate that the decision has been made to move, despite all the many good reasons for the office to stay within the CBD, and despite the staff’s concerns and preference for the office to remain in the CBD.
Heritage Tasmania’s business has not changed since 2019. Its core functions remain the same and its location within Launceston CBD is important for its day-to-day operations. The Greens would call on the government to do what they can to ensure that the Launceston Heritage Tasmania office remains in the CBD so they can continue to provide an excellent service for people who have heritage buildings in the area.
