Council showers Gorge works with cash, but is it value for money?

Two sections of the wall were considered at high risk of collapsing, to the point where City of Launceston council officers sidestepped the usual tendering processes.

Instead of seeking proposals from multiple contractors, infrastructure officers asked a single company, Invision Developments - something permitted by the Local Government Act in an emergency.

Council officers said as the walkway was already closed due to work at the top of the gorge, the project was time-sensitive enough to warrant emergency procedures.

This required an absolute majority of councillors to support the recommendation, and 11 councillors endorsed the proposal at the November 30 meeting.

Only councillor Joe Pentridge objected to the spend.

He said the council should give the gorge a "big once-over" which would ensure value for money, rather than doing several piecemeal projects.

"I seem to have a recollection that there needs to be quite a bit of work done on the walkway," Cr Pentridge said.

"Yes, what a great time to do it while it's closed. But all we're hearing is, every few weeks 'a little bit here needs to be done, a little bit there needs to be done'.

"Why not grab this opportunity and give it a big once-over so it does become the asset that it should be for Launceston."

Acting chief executive officer Shane Eberhardt said other works to improve the path - like hand rail and lighting improvements - had been planned and budgeted, but the retaining wall failure was a priority issue.

Council officers said in a report they were confident in the proposal given by the contractors, as they could compare it to other recent projects.

"Given the nature of the works, the availability of suitably qualified tradespeople is limited," they said.

"The council's officers are confident the tender received presents value given the complexity of work, the site constraints and the rates received.

"Further confidence can be derived from rates received for other similar projects at South Esk Road and Ockerby Gardens."

Deputy mayor Hugh McKenzie said the infrastructure officers had done their due diligence, and the council just needed to "get it done".

"This is our greatest asset," Cr McKenzie said.

"The reality of it is these are skilled operators, I understand from the officers' report to us in doing what they did. As a consequence of that they've done a value for money assessment.

"We just need to get it done."