This year I have been working on the creation of the Huntingfield Landcare group and on Saturday 4th July 17 people from Huntingfield, surrounds and as far away as Launceston came together for the first working bee!

The original goal was a simple rubbish clean up in the Coffee Creek reserve at the end of Ascot Drive, however the large amount of interest I had received meant we needed some more work to do! The rubbish took us less than an hour to collect so we moved on to addressing several weeds in the area that are painful to touch, compete with native vegetation and reduce habitat for native animals.

Removed weeds included:

• Gorse: A dense, woody, and highly spiky shrub that in some places grew so large it needed to be sawn at its base and painted with glyphosate.
• Montpelier broom: an invasive woody legume shrub with bright yellow pea-flowers and trifoliate leaves that forms dense thickets.
• Various thistle: aggressive colonising plants that establish quickly in disturbed or overgrazed ground, spread prolifically through wind-borne seed.
• Blackberry: a vigorous, thicket-forming woody weed introduced in the mid-1800s as a fruit and hedging plant before escaping to become a Weed of National Significance that smothers native vegetation and pasture and harbours pests.

For those that were there to see the before and after, the change was dramatic, bringing this pocket of the reserve back to the litter-free native bushland that we love Tasmania for.

This past Saturday my family attended an amazing Youth Open Mic Night organised by young Tilly and other volunteers with the Blackmans Bay Community Association (BBCA) at the Blackmans Bay Community Hall.

It was the third event, which is held every two months, and is proving to be very popular with seats filling up and attendees beginning to stand wherever they could get a good view. 

Part of what has made this possible is Tilly's plan for ongoing community events that the BBCA used to apply for a Kingborough Council community grant to fund the purchase of sound engineer equipment. Kingborough Council approved the grant and the open mic night events have gone ahead, pulling in crowds of people across generations and providing these young people an approachable stage to practice and present their talents. 

The BBCA will hold 5 events this year which are advertised across all public schools and to music teachers and is open to musicians aged 11 to 16.

One of the things that drew my family in was the opportunity for my five year old daughter, who enjoys music at school, to witness young people performing and hopefully build up her confidence. We heard from many talented young performers who will clearly benefit from a supportive place to practice and further build their own confidence.

For the intermission, BBCA committee members had prepared different hot soups and bread for everyone to enjoy, free of charge, around a cozy fire pit. This was a great time for the community to connect and socialise.

This financial year, the council have budgeted for $30,000 of community grants. If you or your community group have an idea which will enhance the well-being of the Kingborough community, you could be eligible for up to $3000 funding to make your idea a reality! 

Start writing down your plan now and read about the past community grant rounds on the Kingborough Council website. 

The next Blackmans Bay Open Mic Night is scheduled for August 29th, at the Blackmans Bay Community Hall.

Roz Thurn invited Dr. Rosalie Woodruff MP, Cr. Amanda Midgley, Cr. Flora Fox and Mark Donnellon out to witness the isolation or danger that Margate residents have to choose from when crossing the North West Bay River Bridge by foot or bike.

Roz and many other locals have been campaigning for the state government to install a pedestrian and bike bridge over the North West Bay River as the first step towards safely connecting Margate to destinations to the south on the Channel Highway. Including destinations like the bowls club, Margate train, golf club and further on to Howden and Huntingfield.

The group of representatives discussed how they can help with their campaign and options for getting more attention and pressuring the state government to move forward with their long stagnant plans for connecting Margate and Huntingfield with a shared path.

This Sunday was all about Landcare! Kicking off the morning with Whitewater Creek Landcare Group pulling weeds including thistle, forget-me-not and hemlock (toxic!). I got a bit of time in my own garden mulching the vegie garden with pea straw from Blackmans Bay's underground pea straw dealer.

Then off to Nandroya Vineyard in Margate for a volunteers week celebration of our local Landcare volunteers. It was a great pleasure to catch up with many passionate people putting their energy in to conserving our natural environments. We all get a tremendous amount of work done, the vast majority of which is volunteer labour. Jill Jones, Biodiversity Officer for Kingborough Council, does a tremendous job facilitating the many local Landcare groups' ability to work on council land. I'm truly grateful for Jill's energy and for the council staffing someone for this role.

We were joined by a special guest, Jane Rawson, who gave a short talk in the mid-afternoon. Jane's a local author and environmentalist, with a background that includes a stint as environment and energy editor at The Conversation, travel writing for Lonely Planet, and a string of novels including the Aurealis-winning From the Wreck. These days she's managing editor at Island magazine and doing a PhD in creative writing at UTAS.

Jane and Jill talked about Jane's most recent book Human/Nature: On life in a wild world. It's a book that pokes at some of the unspoken assumptions underpinning Australian nature conservation. The idea of a pristine pre-human nature we can somehow get back to, the role of nostalgia in shaping what we choose to protect, and the awkward question of why we care so much about some species and not others.

Judging by Jane's quite amusing talk, I think I'm going to enjoy reading her book!

Mother Goose is officially closing on the 20th of June.

Craig and Ali have run the shop for sixteen and a half years. It was one of the first businesses in Australia certified to install child seats, and they take safety seriously. Only stocking seats with top safety ratings, and offering free certified fittings and re-fittings.

When my wife and I had our first daughter, Craig and Ali's team were there to help us choose the right equipment for our lifestyle and safely secure her seat before my wife gave birth.

Mother Goose has also been a great source of quality gifts for the many young kids born to my friends in recent years.

Craig tells me one of the things that's made business harder is the large national chains buying entire brands to become the sole stockist, removing product lines from independent stores.

Mother Goose is the last baby shop standing in Kingborough. Soon there will be none.

Kingborough is a place where many people start their family. My whole extended family has greatly valued the personal, high quality service Mother Goose has offered over the years, and we're deeply saddened to see this small local business squeezed out of the market. I feel for the Mother Goose team, and for all the new families in Kingborough who'll no longer have their service to support them.

For a few years on McDonald's wages, three of us shared a two-bedroom flat in Kingston Beach. Housing like that is a core need for young people getting a foothold on life. It's exactly what disappears when small units become Airbnbs.

There's a development application on public notice right now: DA-2026-120, Unit 2/26 Osborne Esplanade, Kingston Beach. A 48sqm one-bedder, proposed to convert from residential to visitor accommodation. Two guests, listed on Airbnb. One flat. One less rental on the market.

The ABC reported last week that Tasmania added 498 whole-home short stays in just over 12 months. The statewide total is now 4,719. Kingborough alone has 722 short-stay premises in Q1 2026, fifth in the state behind Hobart, Launceston, Clarence and Glamorgan-Spring Bay.

Emeritus Prof Peter Phibbs told the ABC that whole-home short stays now sit at around 8% of Tasmania's long-term rental market. Probably double what Melbourne or Sydney are seeing. Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds was blunt: "It is really concerning how many rental properties we are losing to the short-stay market."

Meanwhile the social housing waitlist sits at 5,097. Priority applicants wait 81 months.

The 5% short-stay levy passed the lower house last Friday and is now in the upper house. Worth doing. But a levy doesn't bring a single unit back.

Planning permits are the actual lever. This application is discretionary, which means Kingborough Council can refuse it on grounds like residential character, parking adequacy, or the cumulative impact of similar uses in the area. (And it's worth noting the applicant's own visitor management plan contradicts itself: the guest cap says two people, but the car parking section mentions "a maximum of four guests." Councils notice that kind of thing when locals put it on the record.) They only exercise that discretion when the community makes representations. No reps, no refusal.

Reps close 2 June. Email kc@kingborough.tas.gov.au and quote DA-2026-120.

The North West Bay River bridge on Channel Highway has no safe crossing for pedestrians or cyclists. Trucks pass within arm's reach. There's no barrier. That's the reality for anyone walking or riding through Margate right now.

I've lived in Huntingfield for six years. My family can't walk or ride the 5km to the Margate Tavern, Brookfield, or the Margate Train. Not because it's too far. Because the bridge and the highway are genuinely dangerous. In the other direction there's at least footpaths or tracks all the way to Kingston and Blackmans Bay. The contrast is hard to ignore.

Eight local residents have had enough. Roz Thurn, Don Stewart, Morris Worsley, Angela Brinkhoff, Jane Mole, Cam McFarlane, Ben Brinkhoff and Anne Briggs have been actively campaigning for a safe crossing. Don wrote to Infrastructure Minister Kerry Vincent in April, laying it out plainly: the bridge doesn't meet Australian design standards, the narrow ledge is barely walkable, and lowers the already inadequate barrier preventing a fall into the river. It's only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt.

This week, Kingborough Council unanimously passed a motion recognising the Margate to Huntingfield Shared Path as a high-priority infrastructure project and committing to advocate to state and federal governments for funding. Good. That's the right call.

But the bridge sits on a state growth road. The state government owns this problem. Council can and should advocate, but Minister Vincent's department needs to deliver the fix.

This project has been crawling along for over six years. Realm Studios' 2024 Margate Mainstreet Master Plan calls for wide shared mobility paths as part of a broader vision for commercial and residential growth. Margate is growing. Making that growth car-dependent is a bad outcome for everyone.

People of all shapes, ages and fitness levels want to walk and ride to the Kingborough Bowls Club, Hopfields Brewery, the Margate Train, Inverawe Native Gardens. Right now, only the bold are doing it, alongside heavy vehicles with no separation. That's not good enough for a growing community.

The 2026–27 state budget is handed down on 21 May. That's two weeks away.

If you want to see this project funded, now is the time to say so. Contact Minister Kerry Vincent (Infrastructure and Transport) and Treasurer Eric Abetz and ask them to set aside funding for the Margate to Huntingfield Shared Path in this budget.

Kerry Vincent: kerry.vincent@parliament.tas.gov.au
Eric Abetz: eric.abetz@dpac.tas.gov.au

The 1980's section of Huntingfield has a remarkable design compared to what gets built with today's typical urban sprawl!

The narrow streets may provide limited parking space, but narrow streets keep traffic speeds slower, quieter and safer, providing a far more enjoyable space. Being significantly safer than fast, wide roads with on street parking, the outdoor space can be used for more purposes including our kids playing or walking and riding to school!

Talking to someone who closely followed the development back in the 80s, it was apparently "high density" and significant consideration was given to its design to make the density liveable and foster community between the residents. Much more development of the suburb was intended at the time, however the demand for housing was not there and development further towards where the schools are now did not go ahead.

40 years later, the state government still owns the land, and is finally building out a new stage of Huntingfield. Let's hope the design delivers similar qualities for the new residents of Huntingfield.

I'm blown away by the volunteer effort put in to two great submissions championing people-centric design and active transport this past weekend! Each one took tens of person hours to complete on top of the writers' prior knowledge of good design and government policies built over years of engagement in advocacy.

Streets People Love Hobart made comprehensive submissions to the government consultations for the Draft Southern Tasmania Regional Land Use Strategy and the Macquarie Point Northern Access Road. You can find out what they said on the Streets People Love Hobart website.

Southern Tasmania Regional Land Use Strategy

The STRLUS will shape how southern Tasmania grows through to 2050. Our submission, prepared by Ben and Penelope Clark, argued that the strategy needs to back up its own rhetoric. It talks about compact settlements and reducing car dependence — but the previous Planning Minister's decision to extend the Urban Growth Boundary for up to 9,700 new lots in places like Margate, Brighton and Sorell pulls in the opposite direction. That's sprawl, not infill, and it locks in the car-dependent development pattern the strategy says it wants to avoid.

We pushed for urban consolidation to be elevated as a priority, not listed as the last option. We called out the massive funding imbalance — $2.2 billion for roads over the past decade versus $17.5 million for active transport — and argued the STRLUS should require capital projects to be assessed against its own objectives. If the government is serious about the vision in the Wellbeing Framework, the Walk Wheel Ride Strategy, and the Preventive Health Strategy, the land use strategy needs to actually deliver on it.

Submission to Draft Southern Tasmanian Regional Land Use Strategy

Southern Tasmania’s next 25 years are being planned right now. We’ve had our say.

Streets People Love HobartMark Donnellon

Macquarie Point Northern Access Road

The Northern Access Road will service the Port of Hobart and provide a bus plaza for the new stadium precinct. It also cuts right through the Intercity Cycleway — the busiest walking and cycling route in the city. We made two submissions on this project, prepared by Dominic Lang and other SPLH members, as well as a submission and in-person evidence to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works.

Our key concern is that the concept design treats active transport as an afterthought. We used satellite imagery to show desire lines worn into the grass where people are already taking shortcuts the design ignores. We called for separated paths for walking and riding, safer intersection designs, 30 km/h traffic speeds, and proper connections between the cycleway, the Domain, and the future ferry terminal. The stadium's own transport study expects 25% of patrons to walk or ride — the road design needs to reflect that reality.

Submission to Macquarie Point Northern Access Road Consultation

A new road is being built to service the Port of Hobart and the stadium precinct. We’ve been fighting to make sure it doesn’t forget the thousands of people who will walk and ride through this corridor every day.

Streets People Love HobartMark Donnellon

The roads of Kingston Beach have received a unique treatment for the Kingborough area. Have you seen something like this elsewhere in greater Hobart?

Kingston Beach is a very high pedestrian activity area, with several popular restaurants, cafes and shops, a gym and the Kingston Beach hall. It is also a popular area for recreational cycling and running.

"The traffic calming measures [...] will provide a strong indication to motorists to change their driving behaviour to match the change in the road environment. They have been carefully located and spaced to achieve slower traffic speeds and safer pedestrian environment."

The team at Streets People Love Hobart are gearing up for the City of Hobart Christmas Pageant, but we could use more people!

Walk, ride or skate, you can help us show Hobart the different ways people get around. We'll have people rollin' on cargo bikes, recumbents, scooters, skateboards and prams, there'll even be people using their feet! 🫨

fr though, we could use some people walking to assist with carrying our huge platypus sculpture! We've got some special gifts planned for those who come along!

👉👉 Sign up 👈👈 so we know how many we've got and we can send you important information like where and when to meet!

Saturday 22nd November, gather from 9:30am (exactly where not confirmed!), 10:30am pageant moves, 12:00pm post-pageant hang out.

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Kingston's second Ride2Work Day breakfast took place on Wednesday 15 October at Maxie Coffee on Channel Highway. We set up from 7:30am to 9am, with free coffee and breakfast, to encourage more people to consider riding for transport.

Attendance and Weather Impact

We had 25–30 attendees come through the breakfast. Down from last year's near-50, probably due to the multiple days of windy and discouraging weather leading up to Ride2Work Day. When you're trying to get people on bikes, several consecutive days of headwinds don't help your cause.

Ten riders from the Australian Antarctic Division made the trip, continuing their strong support from last year.

Quality Conversations

I got to have a great conversation with someone who doesn't normally ride around Kingston but did have a basic workhorse of a bike that they use when travelling. They often tell themselves they need to ride more often, and Ride2Work Day motivated them to choose riding from Kingston Beach to their doctor's appointment in Kingston.

That's exactly what this event is about, giving people that nudge to actually get on their bike instead of just thinking about it.

Decision Makers Present

Three members of government joined us: Dr. Rosalie Woodruff MP, Mayor Paula Wriedt and Councillor Amanda Midgley, adding their vibrant personalities to the event and giving attendees a chance to talk with decision makers. We were also very happy to have a few Kingborough Council staff from across the road, including CEO Dave Stuart with his years of experience leading active communities.

Having elected officials and senior council staff at a breakfast of 25-30 people creates informal conversations that rarely happen in formal consultation processes.

Building Tradition

The weather didn't cooperate this year, but the foundation is there for Kingston's Ride2Work Day breakfast to become an annual tradition and continue to grow. Meanwhile, the Hobart breakfast at Mawson Place ran from 7:30am with Bicycle Network Tasmania, featuring bike tune-ups, cargo bike displays, and information about the City of Hobart's E-bike Library. Streets People Love Hobart was there connecting riders with information about building support for better street infrastructure.

See you next October, hopefully with calmer winds.

This event was made possible with funding contributions from the Australian Antarctic Division, Kingborough Council and individuals, and volunteer labour from Mark Donnellon, Amanda Midgley and Michael Holloway, and the team at Maxie Coffee.

Kingborough Council's strategic investment in active transport infrastructure is delivering impressive results, with the Whitewater Creek Track experiencing a remarkable 50% increase in daily usage despite the winter months.

The council's recent data reveals that average daily pedestrian traffic has jumped from 355 people in July 2024 to 530 in June 2025 - a significant increase that demonstrates the community's appetite for safe, connected pathways.

Game-Changing Infrastructure

The surge in numbers follows the completion of key infrastructure improvements, including the new Summerleas Road underpass and connecting paths that link Spring Farm to the sports precinct. These developments have safely connected more than 600 homes to Kingborough's expanding shared path network.

"Our community has one of the highest participation rates in recreational walking, so improving these urban active transport links has provided better options for moving about in Kingston off road," said Mayor Paula Wriedt.

The Spring Farm end of the track has seen an even more dramatic transformation, with a 60% increase in daily users. This section now provides crucial off-road access connecting the Kingborough Sports Precinct and Kingston High School with residential areas in Spring Farm and Whitewater Estates.

Community Ownership Takes Root

The infrastructure improvements aren't just about transport - they're fostering genuine community stewardship. The newly formed Whitewater Creek Landcare Group held its inaugural working bee on August 10, attracting 16 dedicated volunteers who spent two hours improving the creek environment.

Led by coordinator Jenny Forward and supported by Kingborough Council's Biodiversity Officer Jillian Jones and Algona Reserve Landcare Group coordinator Roland Painter, the volunteers tackled weeding, removed old plastic tree guards, and collected rubbish along both sides of the creek. The group focused on removing invasive species including forget-me-nots, hemlock and broom.

"Everyone appreciated how much the group could achieve when working together to improve the creek and its surroundings," Forward noted. The formation of this dedicated Landcare group adds ecological value to the path's community benefits.

A Community Embracing Active Living

The Whitewater Creek Track serves multiple purposes for the community, hosting everything from daily commuters to recreational walkers and the popular Kingston Park parkrun every Saturday morning. Since launching in September 2019, the parkrun has grown into a cornerstone community event, with 236 events completed and over 48,000 individual finishes recorded.

The weekly 5km event exemplifies the track's role in promoting active lifestyles, attracting participants who walk, jog, or run the course regardless of pace or ability. With an average finish time of 34 minutes and 47 seconds, the event welcomes everyone from serious athletes to casual fitness enthusiasts.

Kingston Park parkrun takes place every Saturday at 9:00am at Kingston Park, Goshawk Way. The free community event welcomes participants of all abilities. While not strictly required, remember to register at parkrun.com and bring your barcode to have your finish times recorded. Find out more at parkrun.com.au and the event's active Facebook page.

Looking Forward

The 50% increase in winter usage, combined with grassroots environmental initiatives like the new Landcare group, suggests the infrastructure improvements have fundamentally changed how residents engage with this green corridor through Kingston. As warmer weather approaches, these numbers are likely to climb even higher, validating the council's investment in active transport options.

For a community already known for high participation in recreational walking, the Whitewater Creek Track enhancements represent more than infrastructure - they're about creating healthier, more connected neighbourhoods where people can safely choose active transport while actively caring for their local environment.

The success of these improvements sends a clear message: when councils provide safe, well-connected active transport infrastructure, communities respond enthusiastically with both increased usage and environmental stewardship, regardless of the season.

Australia, especially Victoria, is struggling with electric motorcycles posing as e-bikes and cheap poorly-regulated components spontaneously catching fire. It has led to e-bikes being banned in public transport and calls to COMPLETELY BAN E-BIKES.

Police in Australia do not have the ability to enforce the laws that distinguish e-bikes from motorcycles. Let's hope that we see an improvement in enforcement and import regulations instead of more bans on e-bikes.

Over a year since funding announcements from Hon. Eric Abetz MP - Minister for Transport, Mayor Paula Wriedt and Clr Aldo Antolli, Kingborough Council has put on record that construction is expected to start within weeks.

The tender for the construction of a 3m wide concrete shared path from the Summerleas–Channel Highway roundabout to the Whitewater underpass has just closed, with nine submissions received. Evaluation is underway, and works are expected to commence in August. - Agenda No. 12 - 21 July 2025

Sadly, the Better Active Transport Grant Programs, that had been running for over a decade, have not been allocated any further funding in the last proposed state government budget. Meaning access to local paths like this is not likely to be extended to more people any time soon. Read more.

UPDATE: Tenders are being assessed in the closed session of council meeting on 4/8/2025