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The University of Tasmania has opened the door to reinvesting in its Sandy Bay campus after announcing it would reconsider the CBD location of a new building, in a major shift in its plan to move into the city.
In a letter to staff over the weekend, University of Tasmania (UTAS) vice-chancellor Rufus Black said the university would revisit its strategy on a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) facility in Hobart's CBD.
The statement comes after last month's announcement that the university's law school would remain at the inner-city suburb of Sandy Bay about 3 kilometres from the city.
Professor Black said UTAS would update its STEM precinct business case and would seek to take a collaborative path to new facilities in the south.
"Pleasingly, the government has recognised the need for investment in new STEM facilities in the south and indicated they will work with us to update our STEM precinct business case, which has been approved and listed on Infrastructure Australia's priority list since 2017," the letter reads.
"We are seeking a coordinated, collaborative path to new STEM facilities in the south involving all levels of government, similar to the successful approach we took in the north and north-west."
He said the university would "pursue external funding for the project given that the previous plan had been to realise value from the Sandy Bay site to fund those facilities".
Professor Black hinted at new legislation that would make it difficult for the university to sell off any part of its Sandy Bay campus, a strategic move that would have provided the needed funds to complete its CBD master plan.
The proposed amendments to the University of Tasmania Act (1992) would require UTAS to obtain the explicit approval of both houses of parliament for any sale, or disposition of ownership rights, to its Sandy Bay landholdings, which were gifted by the people of Tasmania to the university in 1951.
The legislation was a commitment from the government in the recent state election to deliver on its 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future.
Change in tack to CBD move
The vice-chancellor's letter followed from a statement on Thursday by Liberal MP Madeleine Ogilvie, who will guide the legislation through Tasmania's House of Assembly.
"We are keen to achieve the right balance, delivering on our commitment and also working with the University of Tasmania to secure the Sandy Bay campus for the future with a STEM-led plan," Ms Ogilvie said.
"Upgraded STEM facilities have been on Infrastructure Australia's radar since 2017, we will work together to update the business case to pursue a Commonwealth investment for $500 million into revamped STEM facilities at Sandy Bay."
Hobart councillor Ben Lohberger, from lobby group Save UTAS, said the walk-back of the CBD move "totally undermines the whole plan".
"It's very clear that the staff and the students wish to remain at Sandy Bay … so that's what's going to happen when the university finally asks them, which leaves the university divided between the CBD and the campus," he said.
Cr Lohberger said it would be "a far better outcome" for the university if it were to remain at its current location.
"It's got plenty of room on the campus to redevelop," he said.
"It's a much cheaper option to redevelop buildings rather than completely rebuilding them from scratch after demolishing whatever building was in that place beforehand.
"It's a far better outcome for them to redevelop the campus that they already have that they were gifted 70 years ago, rather than spreading the campus all over the city."
"That same thing is going to happen across most of the faculties. They don't want to move into the city where they've got to fight for parking. They'd like to stay on their campus where they've got green space around their teaching facilities."
Faculty pushback to city move
The law faculty along with the university's College of Business and Economics were slated to move into a $131 million refurbishment of the former Forestry Tasmania building on Melville Street in central Hobart.
In April, UTAS announced it would sell two hotels in central Hobart that it purchased in 2018 and 2019.
The hotels had been bought to house international students, but neither had been used for that purpose for several years and the university said it did not expect international student numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels.
UTAS has been planning a "city-centric" campus since 2019. It includes plans to sell some parts of the Sandy Bay campus and lease other parts.
In recent years, UTAS has bought up almost $80 million of inner-city properties.