Hobart group says Treasury future lacks transparency
The process to consider the future of Hobart’s historic Treasury buildings needs to be more transparent and allow for more public input, says a newly formed community group.
The Friends of the Treasury Buildings group has today called on Treasurer Peter Gutwein to provide more information about the offers that have been received for the potential sale or lease of the buildings via the registration of interest process.
Gutwein said earlier this week there had been nine “significant” registrations of interest in the Treasury buildings.
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He announced in August the ROI process was the first step in the three-stage process to determine the best use of the buildings.
He said the next step was a full expressions of interest process that would be done in the new year.
Friends of Treasury convener Chris Merridew says the ROI process has been “unusual.”
Chris Merridew outside the Murray St entrance to the Treasury buildings. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL
“It gave no opportunity even to inspect the subject buildings, but just to put your organisation forward to enable it to submit an expression of interest when called in 2020,” he says.
Information handed out at a recent open day at the buildings from Price Waterhouse Coopers, which is in charge of the divestment process, says the company has received 107 registrations of interest during the process.
Merridew, a previous councillor with the National Trust, says how the shortlist of nine had come from those 107 remained a mystery.
“We remain very unclear about the filtering process and we are concerned that great ideas and interesting options for these public buildings may be being ruled out behind closed doors,” he says.
“What worries us most is that we are going to wake up one day and the government will have selected a future for the buildings and the community have had very little input.”
Merridew says Gutwein should provide a clear outline of if and when the community will get any say in the preferred project for the public buildings.
Friends of Treasury member Anna Reynolds says the community has said on many occasions how important the buildings are for Hobart.
Anna Reynolds. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES
“Their future use is so important to our heritage heart and so we all deserve much more information on proposals that have come forward and who is behind them,” Cr Reynolds says.
The Murray St buildings have been in public hands for almost 195 years.
Gutwein has been contacted for comment.
This article from The Mercury originally appeared as “Process to decide future of Hobart’s Treasury buildings ‘unusual’ and lacking details, says new group”.
