Tasmanian Council considers selling property to fund playground renewal

Following Tasmania’s Kingborough Council playground audit finding more than half of its playgrounds to be in an unsatisfactory condition and 18 categorised as needing critical upgrades to comply with the Council’s playground strategy, Council is considering selling some of its disused properties to fund playground renewal.

Mayor Dean Winter said while all playgrounds were safe, Council accepted many were in poor condition adding “Unfortunately, not enough has been invested into the renewal of our playgrounds over decades. The end result is that our current playgrounds are not up to community expectations.

“Given the financial impact of COVID-19 on our community, I don’t think it’s realistic to ask families to pay additional rates to resolve this. Therefore, an option we are considering is to use the sale of seven disused Council owned properties to carry out some of these critical upgrades.”

The properties being considered for sale are:

110 Channel Highway, Taroona

Lot 2, Mt Pleasant Road, Kingston

31 Gemalla Road, Margate

Snug Tiers Road, Snug (PID 2139647) (near 105)

281 Roslyn Avenue, Blackmans Bay

41 Hiern Road, Blackmans Bay

Main Road, Alonnah (PID 5061726) (Near Hotel Bruny)

Council has decided to advertise its intention to sell the properties, which will allow residents to have their say before any final decision is made.  Council will formally advertise the proposed sales and place signage on the land.

Mayor Winter advises “our Council owns a lot of properties. The seven in question have not been used for any purpose for a considerable period of time and have no identified future Council use. Six out of seven of the properties are suitable for housing, while the other is light industrial land which is in short supply.

“The hope is that we can release more land for much needed investment and housing while at the same time generating cash to reinvest into our much-loved public playgrounds.”

Image of 41 Hiern Road, Blackmans Bay courtesy of Kingborough Council