North Hobart’s lively Elizabeth Street, with its diverse eateries, music venues, iconic State Cinema and active local community, has seen significant gentrification in recent years, together with broader changes in consumer behaviour affecting mainstreets everywhere. In response to development pressure and broader urban policy priorities, the City of Hobart identified the need to review access and parking in the Elizabeth Street Retail and Entertainment Precinct. To ensure parking was considered in relation to community views and the whole urban context, the City undertook a placemaking approach to the planning and development of the future Precinct.

Village Well partnered with sustainable transport planners MRCagney to develop a Place Vision and an Access and Parking Plan for the Precinct. The City also requested specific recommendations regarding the future of Condell Place Car Park, a City-owned asset.

Multidisciplinary place analysis by Village Well, including extensive community engagement in partnership with MRCagney, informed the development of a compelling Place Vision framework that articulates the local community’s and visitors’ shared values and aspirations for the Precinct, as well as a set of focused Placemaking Strategies to guide future Precinct planning and development.

Over 735 people participated in conversations and surveys over a one-month period, demonstrating a high level of interest in the project. The findings revealed that most aspirations for the Precinct overall were shared by the wide variety of different interest groups and a strong Vision for the area has emerged about how to improve the Precinct’s liveability, mainstreet vitality, access and parking. The engagement outcomes were published by the City in June 2020 and the Vision, Access and Parking Plan was made public in July 2020. The project has also seen the creation of the North Hobart Residents and Community Association alongside the process. The process as a whole has been successful in generating awareness and building understanding and confidence in Council’s approach moving forward.