More Than Just Slogans: Making Our City Streets Thrive Again

A shop vacancy rate of more than 12 per cent in Hobart’s CBD should concern all of us. But if we are serious about fixing it, we have to resist the temptation to blame one thing.

Yes, bike lanes and changes to traffic, parking and freight access can affect individual businesses.

Collins Street has changed parking, loading and the way people move through that precinct, and businesses raising concerns deserve to be heard. In fact, the design was amended following business feedback to retain additional parking and loading opportunities. Council should measure those impacts honestly.

But a vacancy problem across the CBD is bigger than one street.

Hobart is being hit by several economic pressures at once.

Households are carrying higher borrowing costs and are watching discretionary spending. I have been watching the city sales data and its been virtually flat for some time whilst wages, rent and materials increase directly impacting profits.

International education has also weakened. Australian Government figures show international student numbers were down 7 per cent nationally in the year to June 2026, while Tasmania had already fallen from 16,050 international enrolments in 2020 to 10,216 in 2024. Students are not just enrolment numbers: they rent, eat, shop and use services in the city.

Business migration has changed too. The Commonwealth’s Business Innovation and Investment Program - which provided pathways for business owners, investors and entrepreneurs - closed permanently to new applications in July 2024. We should at least ask what that has meant for a smaller market such as Hobart, where even a modest number of new operators can fill shopfronts and create jobs.

Then there is public-sector uncertainty. The Tasmanian Government has committed to reducing the State Service by 1,800 positions by 2032, with a 2026 voluntary redundancy process targeting up to 500 positions.

In a city with a large public-service workforce, uncertainty affects spending before a single redundancy occurs. People worried about their jobs postpone lunches, clothing, entertainment and other discretionary purchases.

So what can Council actually do?

First, we need to give people reasons to come into the city that they cannot get online.

That means a deliberate CBD activation calendar: food and cultural trails, small live-music events, family activities, exhibitions, street competitions and seasonal promotions spread through Liverpool, Collins, Murray and Elizabeth streets - not simply concentrated around the waterfront.

The purpose should be to drive customers through our existing businesses, not create events that compete with them. Second, we should trial incentives and measure whether they work. Hobart’s multi-storey car parks already provide the first hour free. Instead of promising blanket free parking, we could trial an additional free hour during selected activation evenings, late-night shopping events or traditionally quieter periods and then measure whether it actually increases visitation.

Third, Council should establish a vacant-shop activation program with property owners. Long-empty premises could temporarily become pop-up shops, exhibitions, creative businesses and start-ups. An active shopfront creates interest; papered windows create more papered windows.

Fourth, make it easier to invest. A retailer or entrepreneur considering Hobart should have one clear Council contact to help navigate planning, outdoor dining, signage and permits. We should be actively trying to attract businesses rather than simply waiting for them to arrive.

And finally, get the data.

Where are the vacancies? How long are premises staying empty? Why did businesses leave? What are rents, pedestrian numbers, parking use and freight conditions doing?

The answer is not to pretend bike lanes have no impact. Nor is it credible to pretend they explain everything.

A 12 per cent vacancy rate, if confirmed on a comparable basis, is an economic warning.

Hobart now has to compete for people, investment and activity again.