Government keeps building on the fringe while Hobart's roads groan under the weight
MEDIA RELEASE 30 JULY 2026
Government keeps building on the fringe while Hobart's roads groan under the weight
The Rockliff Government's announcement of a new 100-lot subdivision for social and affordable housing at New Norfolk’s Kensington Park has come under strong criticism from Independent MP Helen Burnet.
"This is yet another example of housing growth, particularly on the edge of Hobart, with no plan for how those new residents will actually get to work, school or the doctor.
"Minister Vincent is very good at cutting ribbons on new land releases, but I haven't seen anything from this Government that shows they've thought seriously about how another hundred car-dependent households in New Norfolk are supposed to commute into Hobart every day," Ms Burnet said.
"The Government's pattern of securing greenfield land in outer suburban and rural municipalities, which includes public housing without any matching investment in public transport, is putting further demand on already congested road corridors into and out of Hobart.
"Also, at a time when fuel costs are biting, in a cost of living crisis, why isn’t the government pursuing social and affordable options closer to the city where many people work and with already established infrastructure?
"Even using decade-old Census data, we know that Derwent Valley residents were already among the most car-dependent commuters in the state. Back in 2011, only 41 per cent of employed Derwent Valley residents worked within the municipality — the rest were travelling out, and the majority of those were heading straight into the four Hobart council areas for work.
"That was fourteen years ago, before the housing crisis pushed even more Tasmanians further out of town in search of an affordable block. If anything, the pressure on that commute and people’s hip pockets has only grown worse.
"I call on the Government to abandon its urban sprawl approach that is coupled with transport poverty for residents, and congestion on already choked roads. The Government fails to coordinate land and transport use. It is clear they are failing to make land available in the inner city and along Hobart's northern transit corridor, where infrastructure is already in place.
"Every time this Government announces another subdivision in New Norfolk, Brighton or Sorell, it is adding more cars to the Brooker Highway and the Lyell Highway without adding a single extra bus, ferry or rail service to match it.
"You cannot keep unlocking land on the urban fringe and pretend that's a viable and affordable housing solution without offering public transport options.
"Tasmanians in the Derwent Valley and right across greater Hobart need a government that plans population growth and transport investment together, not one that announces land releases as a headline and leaves the congestion, the missed buses and the hour-long commutes for someone else to sort out."
Ms Burnet is calling on the Government to release an integrated land-use and transport plan for Greater Hobart that ties every new land release to committed public transport upgrades, and reiterates her calls to prioritise medium-density development in established, well-serviced areas ahead of further greenfield subdivisions on the urban fringe.