This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Showgrounds is a step closer after Glenorchy City Council approved the first stage of the $50 million project, while it is also furthering the cause for a new tourist operation at the historic Cadbury factory.
The redevelopment includes a new pavilion, 1,500-seat theatre, auditorium, oval, plaza for up to 100 market stalls, public bar, and café. It was approved with a number of conditions.
“This approval allows the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania to redevelop the facility, cementing the site as the home of the Royal Hobart Show for many years to come,” Acting Mayor Russell Yaxley said.
“Council officers have worked extremely hard with the society as part of Council’s due diligence in assessing the society’s proposed redevelopment, and I’m confident this approval will allow the society to construct the infrastructure it needs as a contemporary organisation which provides such an iconic event to public,” he said.
The Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania has suggested publicly that some components including the theatre may be pushed back dependent on obtaining financing construction costs.
Beyond the first stage could be delivery of up to 493 dwellings across buildings rising three to six storeys. A planning application and assessment for that stage will be made separately.
Meanwhile, the Council, sitting as the Glenorchy Planning Authority, has also agreed to prepare a planning scheme amendment which would support a tourist operation at the Cadbury factory.
“While there has not been a specific application to construct a visitor centre at the factory to this point, this decision allows for the planning scheme to be amended to accommodate a tourist-based visitor experience,” Yaxley aid.
The Cadbury factory at Claremont was built in 1921 as the company’s first factory outside of the United Kingdom. Considered the largest chocolate factory in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, most recent estimates put the factory’s production at 200 million blocks per year, or 60,000 tonnes of chocolate. The factory produces Cadbury Dairy Milk block, as well as Freddos and Caramello Koalas.
Council will now prepare an amendment for consideration by the Tasmanian Planning Commission, with the public to get the opportunity to make representations prior.
“The visitor experience at Cadbury as has been discussed is an amazing concept,” Yaxley said.
“It will no doubt add to our city and bring economic gain – but it must be done really well and with a best-practice approach given the uniqueness of the site, considering the proximity to a residential area and the history of the Cadbury factory,” he said.
