Two recently released comprehensive reports contain no good news for the UTas proposal to move its University campus from Newnham to the Flood Zone of the Inveresk tidal flats:
(i) The North and South Esk Rivers Flood Modelling and Mapping Updates - Volume 1: Technical Report and Volume 2: Flood Mapping – by BMT Consultants, commis sioned by the City of Launceston and released in January 2019.
(ii) An Evaluative Review of the UTas Inveresk Precinct Redevelopment –commissioned by the Northern Tasmanian Network Partners & Associates, authored by Mr Chris Penna, and released in March 2 019.
Available on the CoL website, the BMT Reports are based on the latest flood (2016) , sea level rise and climate change data, and make worrying projections . The reports warn that Launceston’s much trumpeted reconstructed flood levees are no longer cap able of protecting Invermay and the City from their designed 0.5% (1:200 year) flood event, and that the level of protection is now halved to just 1% (1:100 year), assuming the levees function properly. The report predicts that a current 1:200 year flood w ould well overtop the levees and that Invermay would be subject to flood waters 2m to 5m deep at Hazard Class 5 level – ie Unsafe for vehicles and people. All buildings vulnerable to structural damage. Some less robust buildings subject to failure.
Apart from its low - key website, the C ity o f L aunceston has been modestly silent about the BMT reports, although it would be expected that part of its civic duty is to make Invermay/City residents and businesses fully aware of the implications of the report s. The C ity o f L aunceston and UTas have similarly disregarded several commissioned expert environmental reports (involving seismic, geotechnical and flood/tidal factors), from the 1990s onwards about Inveresk/Invermay, that all highlight the inadvisability and dangers of developments at Inveresk, especially expensive major projects that will house large numbers of people. Key aspects of these commissioned reports and others of relevance, are describ ed in the Evaluative Review , together with a per tinent sec tion that highlights the reports’ advices about the problems/issues related to development at Inveresk.
Any content and key messages from this library shelf of reports were conveniently not included in the original 2016 UTas marketing document upon which funding commitments of $200m were made by Federal and State governments and upon which the C ity o f L aunceston gifted Inveresk and Willis St land parcels to UTas. The Evaluative Review finds that no substantial, evidenced, environmental, economic or social cases have been publicly made by UTas or the City o f L aunceston to validate the Inveresk Precinct Redevelopment. The promised intents of UTas to both maintain and develop its existing Launceston based tertiary education offerings and to create and promote a range of 2 - year industry related associate degree course are strongly supported by the Evaluative Review . Nevertheless the vital provision of quality University courses for the Nor th has been disappearing. The Evaluative Review clearly do cuments the inadequacies of the 2016 marketing document and associated processes that managed to gain both political support and Government funding. As UTas has acknowledged that the cost of the original proposal has increased markedly and the projected number of additional students has decreased significantly, the funding and land gifts were provided under quite inaccurate assumptions. As the project sought m ore than $100m of Federal money, it should have been subject to much earlier stages of assessment by the `independent’ Infrastructure Australia (IA). This did not occur, and the final Business Case was only submitted to IA on 31 Jan 2019. It is now under e valuation, although rationalised approval is anticipated as the Federal funding has already been handed over to the State. The Evaluative Review shows that a lack of due process and due diligence has been a consistent, notable part of the entire project si nce its inception.
The Evaluative Review also demonstrates that the Launceston Community has been, and continues to be, intimidated into accepting the UTas relocation proposal, or face the threat from UTas that it would withdraw or reduce its local Univer sity presence. Similarly it appears that IA is under political pressure to approve the Northern Transformation Program. Such intimidatory pressures seem to have displaced rational assessments, and in most workplaces such behaviour could be labelled as bull ying and deemed unacceptable.
Additionally
(i) the reconstructed levees have never been fully signed - off after professional inspection, with both the concrete levees and the complete system still awaiting such formal approval as required
(ii) the risk of seismic action has not been considered
(iii) parking and traffic congestion issues have not been adequately addressed (iv) there has been no comparative cost - benefit analysis of redevelopment at Newnham.
Media Conference Location : Boland St Nth Esk Levee opposite Willis St carpark 11am
The Evaluative Review, the BMT reports, and a range of other relevant reports/communications are at: https://northerntasmaniannetworkpartners.blogspot.com/
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