Plan to guide future development of St Leonards

Published on 05 August 2024

The popular Launceston suburb of St Leonards will benefit from the finalisation of a plan to guide the delivery of 3,500 new homes and community infrastructure over the next 30 years.

The City of Launceston successfully applied for funding from the Federal Government's $1.5 billion Housing Support Program.

Mayor Matthew Garwood said he was excited council was receiving a contribution of $327,000 towards the finalisation of its St Leonards Structure Plan and an Infrastructure Funding Framework.

Council is also investing $200,000 in the project.

"St Leonards is one of the city's fastest growing residential hotspots as we can see from the development applications coming in the door.

"What is really important is we harness this growth for the benefit of the community.

"We want our suburbs to be enriched as they change as well as protecting the features people value," Mayor Garwood said.

"The Structure Plan and Infrastructure Funding Framework will help us plan out development so it is sequenced in a logical way and facilitates the delivery of a quality suburb for existing and new residents.

"This planning will preserve the character of St Leonards and seek to head off the challenges that are created in the absence coordination between developments, like traffic issues, poor connectivity and a lack of amenities as the suburb grows," Mayor Garwood added.

"Launceston needs more homes and this is one area we will be focusing our efforts and investments over the coming decades."

In 2018 Council commenced this journey by undertaking "Planning in the Pub" sessions to gauge the views of the St Leonards community, and the development of the St Leonards Structure Plan and Infrastructure Funding Framework are the exciting next step on the journey.

The feedback gathered during the earlier phases of work will be incorporated as the new phase of planning commences.