Case Studies

Background

George Town is a historic coastal municipality at the mouth of the Tamar River in northern Tasmania, located approximately 50 kilometres north of Launceston. George Town has a strong maritime and industrial heritage that continues to shape its economy and identity. The municipality is home to the nationally significant Bell Bay Industrial Precinct alongside other major port, manufacturing and energy infrastructure that underpins employment across northern Tasmania. George Town is experiencing cumulative housing pressure driven by an ageing community, changing household profile, affordability pressures and the potential influence of future industrial growth. To address these pressures, George Town Council commissioned a Local Housing Strategy to shape a forward-looking and locally informed housing agenda.

Project Goals

The Local Housing Strategy aimed to establish an adaptable framework to guide housing outcomes across George Town over the next decade. The project sought to understand how demographic change, housing demand and supply, affordability, development conditions and potential Bell Bay growth could shape future housing needs, before translating this evidence into clear strategic directions and actions. The Strategy also aimed to help Council make clear, consistent and evidence-based decisions, support better housing diversity and affordability and provide a stronger basis for discussions with State and Federal Government, Homes Tasmania, infrastructure providers, industry and the development sector.

REMPLAN’s Involvement

REMPLAN was commissioned by George Town Council to develop a contemporary, evidence-led Local Housing Strategy that outlines how Council will help guide housing outcomes, aligning with the Tasmanian Housing Strategy and Council’s ambition to grow 10,000 residents by 2030. REMPLAN examined demographic and household change, housing market conditions, population and workforce growth scenarios, land supply, the development pipeline and housing feasibility, supported by targeted engagement with Council, government, housing providers, industry and the development sector. The work utilised REMPLAN’s in-house software suite to support population, workforce and housing market analysis, alongside spatial land supply and development feasibility assessment. REMPLAN brought this evidence together through the Directions Paper and translated the findings into the final Strategy, implementation plan and monitoring framework.

Results

The Strategy found that George Town’s key housing challenge is not a shortage of zoned land but converting available capacity into housing that is feasible to deliver and better aligned with changing community needs. It highlighted the need for greater housing diversity and affordability, alongside coordinated action to overcome delivery barriers and support vulnerable households. Bell Bay was identified as a significant but uncertain growth opportunity, requiring a flexible and proactive response rather than reliance on a single growth forecast. The adopted Strategy provides Council with a clear framework to enable housing delivery, strengthen partnerships and respond as housing market and industrial conditions evolve.