Trump Tower image stirs up Hobart hotel fight

Tasmanian Conservation Trust has been accused of “deceiving Tasmanians” by using a doctored image of Trump Tower to persuade the public to reject Fragrance Group’s Hobart hotel proposal.

The trust has been circulating an image with its online petition against the proposed hotel at Collins St with an uncanny resemblance to US President Donald Trump’s famed, luxury hotel in Las Vegas.

The image appears to have been flipped, the colour of the hotel changed from gold to glass and where the word Trump is emblazoned atop the tower, the words Fragrance appear instead.

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A Fragrance Group spokesman says it is incredibly disappointing the Conservation Trust would use proven false imagery in an attempt to validate its argument.

“The image claimed as representative by the Conservation Trust is of the Trump Tower in Las Vegas,’’ he said.

“Trump Tower is 68 storeys and 200m high, significantly greater than Fragrance’s proposed 50m and contains nearly 1300 rooms as opposed to Fragrance’s proposed 256. Fragrance is happy to respond to truth, fact and legitimate questions, but using this image on the part of the trust is simply false and designed to deceive Tasmanians.”

Trust director Peter McGlone could not be contacted earlier this week.

The doctored image appeared in a story in Monday’s Mercury where McGlone says the photo gives the idea of what the proposed 55m Fragrance hotel would look like in the location.

The image being circulated by the Tasmanian Conservation Trust. Image: TCT.

Meanwhile, at a Hobart City Council city planning committee meeting on Monday night, there was a split decision by the committee over architect Leigh Woolley’s building height report with two aldermen voting against the motion for different reasons. The committee split on the council officer recommendation to release the Building Height Standards Review for public consultation.

The report proposes capping building in the CBD inner core to 60m with different height-limit zones across Hobart.

Aldermen Helen Burnet and Tanya Denison voted against the motion but Ald Eva Ruzicka and city planning chairman Jeff Briscoe supported it.

Ald Burnet says 60m is way above what is acceptable for Hobart’s CBD.

“The report that Leigh Woolley has done is fantastic,” she said after the meeting.

“I feel 60m is far and above what is an acceptable height and well above most of the current buildings in that area.”

Ald Denison says there should be no height limits in Hobart’s CBD.

“I think there should be no maximum height limits at all.”

“I think that buildings should continue to be assessed against acceptable criteria.

“Absolute height limits will be a bad outcome for the development and streetscape of our city.”

The committee also discussed extending the report’s public consultation period from four weeks to six weeks and releasing a more digestible synopsis of the report.

The matter will be discussed at a council meeting on Monday.

This article from The Mercury originally appeared as “Fragrance flips over Trump Tower image”.