'Merit' versus 'Value': The case of Egg Island Canal

This paper is based on recent community reaction to a Development Application by a utility company to place a water pipeline through the middle of a declared Historic Town and in the bed of the oldest navigation canal in Australia that retains its original form and function. The canal crosses an island adjacent to Franklin in the Huon Estuary, which is owned partly by the Crown and private owners, but predominantly by the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. It has been in continuous use since the middle of the nineteenth century for commercial, recreational and social purposes. Not surprisingly, the appeal process exposed conflicting priorities based on conflicting philosophical foundations, strategies, jurisdictional issues and historical experiences. The paper will discuss the sources of conflict and the lessons that might be derived from it.