UTAS reveals draft plans for Newnham campus

That is one element of the Newnham campus masterplan being developed by UTAS as it seeks the best way to expand and redevelop its secondary site.

Newnham will become a secondary research and industry driven site under the new draft plans, that are being considered and developed into a master plan.

The master plan is expected to be finalised by November.

The draft plans show the campus will have four main elements, including the Australian Maritime College, but a portion of the existing land is to be sold for housing.

Launceston pro vice chancellor Dom Gerahty said work was underway to investigate how to facilitate transfer of land to Communities Tasmania for affordable housing.

"We all know that we need more housing in Tasmania, and especially in Launceston," he said.

The process is being investigated by a corporate arm of the university, to initiate the process to gift or sell a portion of land to the state government.

The portion of land is located alongside Newnham Creek and Brooks Road, and will be located nearby a new defence cadet facility also be part of the campus.

Professor Geraghty said providing some land back for housing would go some way to help alleviate the chronic housing shortage, but it was also about reconnecting with the community of the Northern Suburbs.

"The idea here is that we're trying to reinvigorate the Northern Suburbs, because it's not just going to be students and academics out there, it's going to be a wide variety of people and there will be housing as well," Professor Geraghty said.

"The main aim of the Northern Transformation project is not to put an emphasis on buildings, but it's about making education attainable at all levels and accessible to those who would not normally attend.

"What we are trying to do is to take away the mystique of the university, and to bring down the traditional walls at Newnham that have existed.

UTAS has faced community criticism, particularly in relation to its plans for its Hobart campus, as some say that the university is more focused on property development, than education.

However, when asked, Professor Geraghty swiftly shot down that criticism, saying the institution's plans for buildings and education go hand-in-hand.

"The evidence is unequivocal, that if you create in place and city university campuses you increase the awareness of higher education and education attainment," he said.

Professor Geraghty said he himself was an example of that. He said in his family, living in Ireland, only four of them went to university because he lived in a low socioeconomic area.

"Universities seem otherworldly, on the other side of the city, and I did end up going, and now I have degrees at two universities, in Ireland and in Australia."

"I go back and they're building Dublin City University across the road from where I was born. Results show that we've gone from four per cent of people in that area having a university degree to 48 per cent.

"So it's not it's not a property bit, it's actually the idea is making it [university education] available to everyone."

Another way UTAS is hoping to bring down the literal walls and invite the community in is by establishing some green and areas accessible by the community.

Professor Geraghty said UTAS was in the process of finalising what those community spaces may look like, but would embark on extensive community consultation to finalise what the public would like to see out there.

Some of the existing, such as the sporting oval, will remain untouched, but Professor Geraghty said UTAS would like to hear from residents.

"What we want to do is tear down the walls," he said.

He said all the fences that kept the Newnham campus apart from the community would come down and it would integrate seamlessly with surrounding housing.

"It [the Newnham campus] will become a lot more porous than it has been in the past," Professor Geraghty said.

While some of the campus will be divested to make way for new houses, they won't be the only new residents making their home at Newnham.

Part of the site, located along Brooks Road, has been earmarked for a defence cadet facility, which will blend in with the expansion of the Australian Maritime College.

Professor Geraghty said there would be lodgings built to house about 60 cadets, as well as teaching spaces anre areas to store large equipment.

Work on constructing the cadet facility has already started, with an area fenced off and exploratory groundwork started for the build.

The Australian Maritime College will expand its footprint at Newnham to make way for some cutting-edge technology, as part of the AMC Maritime Innovation Hub.

The hub, which has attracted federal government funding, will allow AMC to develop sovereign capability.

There are plans to install a new state-of-the-art towing tank that is about 200 metres long and the only one of its kind in Australia, along with other simulation equipment to help expand its research abilities.

Professor Geraghty said the AMC expansion, along with the cadet facility would mean a fair portion of the campus would have a defence feel to it, and would help to link industry and education in the one place.

One of the first pieces of the puzzle to be announced was the relocation of the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture from Hobart to Launceston.

Professor Geraghty said about a dozen staff had already relocated from Mount Pleasant in Prospect to Newnham.

A relocation package is also on the table for staff who want to move from Hobart to Launceston.

Professor Geraghty said a number of staff had chosen that option, but not everyone.

Forced relocation is not on the table.

"We've got architects working on the design of glass houses and working on refurbishing building S. We are going to put netted areas out there, because these guys [at TIA] need space to grow things," he said.

Discussions are also ongoing with the Department of Natural Resources to also relocate some staff to the site.

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