Continued Improvement and Beautification? Town Planning in Launceston 1930-1945

In the 1930s the regional city of Launceston in northern Tasmania, Australia developed a town planning consciousness These reasons included the appointment in 1930 of a new City Engineer who was a town planning enthusiast, the revival of the Northern Tasmanian Town Planning Association in 1933, the leading role taken by architects who trumpeted the virtues of town planning, and the support of the Fifty Thousand League, a booster organization intent on expanding Launceston’s population and economy. These forces combined to preserve and extend Launceston’s reputation as a beautiful city. The City Council was receptive to calls for further beautification of the city, but created tensions with the town planning movement because of its reluctance to spend large amounts on town planning when faced with implementing an expensive flood prevention scheme. Further tensions were created by the State Government’s disregard of plans for city improvement. World War 2 initially slowed the momentum of the town planning movement. But from 1943, in the euphoria of a new society promised in the post-war world and the need for more housing once war ended, town planning assumed greater importance to meet heightened public expectations. Finally the State Government supported town planning and passed the Town and Country Planning Act 1944, long desired by town planners. At last the interests of the City Council, the State Government and citizens’ groups converged. This paper examines what was achieved in the assertive and growing regional city of Launceston between 1930 and 1945.