City of Launceston councillors approve Invermay zoning changes

Residential lots at 14, 16 and 18 Howard Street, 26 and 28 Montagu Street and the southern portion of 69A Mayne Street in Invermay will all be designated as part of the Light Industrial Zone.

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The northern part of 30 Montague Street will also be re-zoned, changing from Light Industrial to General Residential zoning.

The decision to re-zone the land was made in conjunction with a development application to demolish buildings currently on the lots and construct a five-tenancy building and car park.

Speaking at the June 1 council meeting, Hugh McKenzie said the recommendation to amend the planning scheme seemed at odds with the current demand for housing, but as the land was located within the floodplain light industrial was a better fit.

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"In a situation where housing is at a premium in and around Launceston ... removing something from general residential and putting it in light industrial sounds counter-intuitive," Cr McKenzie said.

"There are some storage sheds that are going to be built on the corner of Howard and Montague, (which) in my view, fit in neatly with the light industrial on the other side of the road.

"They're looking to put some land back into res (residential) which is really good as well to actually put it above the flood plain which enables them to build something that is appropriate to the need that we have."

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The motion was seconded by Joe Pentridge, who noted the buildings currently on the lots were "past their use-by date" and the proposed industrial projects made for a "good development" with access to key roads and nearby industrial properties.

Tim Walker also spoke on the matter saying although the houses appeared to be run-down, he hoped to see the materials used elsewhere.

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"Whenever a building's being demolished ... if there are any materials that could be reclaimed in that process, I would encourage the developer to do so," he said.

"I know at least one of the houses seems to be in reasonable condition."

The proposal was approved by all councillors present.

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