There are three main owners of the west side of the old Royal Derwent Hospital, known as the Willow Court Training Centre and each owner is currently offering their site, in whole or in part, for sale or lease. This hasn’t happened since the Tasmanian Government sold the whole site after the closure in 2001. The only area that isn’t for sale is the Administration Building and old School (currently the Derwent Valley Community House) which is close to vacating and moving to a new site.

Heritage Precinct:

The Derwent Valley Council have approved an Expression of Interest for the use of the remaining sections of the Barracks, C and A Wards and also Frascati House. Although enquiries to gain access to this document have failed as there is still work to be done before it is ready.

The Oval Wards:

The owner of the Oval Wards, D, E and G has also put out an expression of interest by Tender on the site. This site is currently under dispute with the Derwent Valley Council who are seeking legal advise according to their last agenda. As far back as the opening day of Dark Mofo at WIllow Court, I was informed that the DVC were going to reclaim these buildings due to the fact that no progress was made toward converting them to residential accommodation by the developer as was agreed.

Agenda Thursday, 18th January 2018

That the General Manager report to the February meeting with independent legal advice regarding the Council’s options to either complete the sale of the property at Willow Court known as the “Oval Buildings” (formerly Wards D, E and G) or recover the properties from
the purchaser.

Rationale

This issue has been dragging on for too long, with conflicting advice being provided at various times. Councillors are in need of independent legal advice in order to make an informed decision on how best to move forward with this.

The current Tender process is advertising that the property would be a “Great opportunity for investor / developer to redevelop or ‘land bank'”“.  For those that may not have come across this term “land banking”, the oval Wards are a good example of “land banking” as is Claremont Primary School. Both buildings have been allow to fall into a state of disrepair and be subjected to vandals. However the land still increases in value as time moves forward. The little that is done to the property the higher the profit.

If the Derwent Valley Council regain these Wards and land we have to look at their long history of management of the buildings and the site to consider if this is a good idea. The Council has owned the site from 2003 and most of the current damage to each building happened while under their control and management. Offering it for sale again, as it is now, may allow the Council more control over the next owners aspirations. Any potential owner would still be subject to the Heritage and Council restrictions that currently apply, so the extra cost and potential community benefit that the Council would undertake with rate payer money is not yet clear. The current dispute between the owner and the DVC would certainly detract any potential investor, one would assume.

The Commercial area:

All the privately owned section around Patchwork Cafe (including the cafe) are also for sale through an expression of interest process with some buildings maintaining a current lease. There are 5 separate strata titles in Willow Court. including a number of buildings constructed from 1860 to the early 1960s. The advertisement includes the Ladies Cottage which is described as; “One of the most historic buildings available anywhere in Tasmania”. This is the second oldest building on the whole Hospital site circa 1860. All buildings are either is a state of disrepair or have undergone some level of work allowing for occupation.