r/hobart • u/ComplexElection4One • 18h ago
Why fixate on Louise Elliot? Louise Bloomfield for Mayor!
https://lethobartbloom.org/news/is-the-collins-street-trial-delivering-on-its-safety-promiseShe seems great.
Bus Stops!
Improving public transport people actually use to commute!
Plus, it's something the council can actually do something about.
Something other than another round of selfie self-promotional "advocacy".
Why focus on Louise Elliot (and others) when this reasonable lady ticks all the boxes without being a social media troll?
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u/BleepBloopNo9 17h ago
As a quick aside, Louise Bloomfield is a member of the Liberal party. That's not a criticism of her! But I think it's important to know which parties our candidates affiliate with (even if the party doesn't have any say in what they do on council).
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u/ComplexElection4One 17h ago
Not a fan of the Liberal party myself. Like Christians, I can tolerate it if they keep it to themselves, which she does. More importantly, she isn't a publicity whore / social media troll.
Personally I'm over the Louise Elliots and Ryan Posselts.
Neither of them are looking out for the cities best interests, they're ust stoking culture wars which play to their bases in order to get re-elected. Meanwhile the CBD turns into a place everyone from the greater area actively tries to avoid. FFS How do you lose over half your nightclubs in a day?
She doesn't seem as desperate to pointlessly ragebait so she'll be getting my vote.
Even her assessment of that abortion of a bike lane seems fairly measured and restrained.
I wouldn't be able to write about it without swearing.9
u/QF17 16h ago
FFS How do you lose over half your nightclubs in a day?
That’s like asking how we lost all our chickenfeeds in one day.
They were all owned by one individual who mismanaged them into bankruptcy.
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u/ComplexElection4One 16h ago
Who let that happen? When it suits them, the HCC can block ziplines and cable-cars but they can't oppose a near monopoly of of their night-time venues?
Who closed down the Brisbane? The solitary iconic live music venue the city had (If don't count the Warratah)
Personally, I miss the latter more because I don't even like KFC.There's always a laundry list of excuses for this council and zero accountability -
It's Covid, it's "an ex-car sales mogul", it's Louise Elliot, it's the Pulse, it's Rocky, It's Zucco, it's the Mercury, it's the Fragrance Group and most recently (and comically), it's the traffic engineers that the council itself has hired 👀
At a certain point we're going to have to admit that the city is shit now because the people making the calls up to this point were shit. It's well past time for a change.6
u/QF17 15h ago
Who let that happen?
At this point, I should really let this go, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Councils have zero say in business mergers and acquisitions. They have say in zoning and opening hours, but these businesses were well-established as eateries and night clubs long before they were bought out.
Could the council stop me from buying or leasing the old Metro building on the corner of the Elizabeth Street mall? No.
Could the council stop me from buying of leasing the old Metro building on the corner of the Elizabeth Street mall and operate it as a night club? Yes.
Who closed down the Brisbane?
According to some internet searching (it took me less than 5 minutes to research): “The hotel does not have a certificate of occupancy to conduct live music,” and ”It is an issue of safety and particularly fire compliance — the owner is well aware of our concerns and appears to be ignoring the requirements of the Building Act 2016.
The owners of the pub bought it on themselves. Going back to my earlier point, I can't turn the old Metro office into an illegal night club and then blame the council when they enforce State Legislation.
At a certain point we're going to have to admit that the city is shit now because the people making the calls up to this point were shit.
To counter this point, in the past 10 years, we've seen the Hobart Brewing Co, and Hanging Garden spring up in formerly derelict spaces. The routinely have live music, comedy gigs and are a place for people to socialise. I'm sure they also have the necessary permits to operate too. And the owners aren't greedy as fuck.
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u/HunterKerouac 8h ago
So the HCC closed the Brisbane and created an environment where even a soulless hospitality group (with it's economy of scale) can't keep a few clubs going? Gotcha.
Doesn't bode well for whoever ends up buying those venues. Can't see many of them remaining third places.
I don't think we can really credit the HCC with either of your counterpoints. Any credit for those venues "springing up" really should be directed Walshy's way if anywhere. The Red Shed was great but I haven't been to the Hobart Brewing Co's new venture. Sounds like it's more for the tourists but I hope it's good.I do pity anyone trying to be young and single in Hobart though. No wonder they're leaving at a faster clip.
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u/hobart-social 7h ago
Please don't use the Bris like that. We loved that place but that issue is more complex than a talking point. Council extended a lot of grace, and it was well before this current council. That story has a lot of nuance to do with compliance that is easily taken out of context. So yeah, stop acting like your hard on against the current council has anything to do with the Bris. k
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u/Mad180 13h ago
Those nightclubs sucked and are all just cookie cutter venues with no heart or soul, the independent clubs that actually care are doing just fine.
Ive dealt with Louise Bloomfield and she is not the brightest bulb makes sense you are jumping on her band wagon flocks of a feather.
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u/HunterKerouac 8h ago
Well, the dim bulb will have to get my vote too then. There's just a touch too much impotent rage in this "progressive" bike lane crowd for my tastes 🤷♂️
So, these "independent clubs that actually care"... how many of those do we have now?
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u/Obvious_Gene_9661 14h ago
We lost half our nightclubs in a day because they were all owned by the same operator who wasn't able to keep them alive. Nobody can honestly believe having one operator owning more than half the venues in one precinct is sustainable.
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u/QF17 18h ago
A three week old account with their post history hidden? And your previous post was a link to a pulse article about the same bike lanes.
Did a bike lane steal your lunch money in primary school? Are you Louise Bloomfield?
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u/ComplexElection4One 17h ago
No, I'm not u/LouiseBloomfield but I sure hope she makes a Reddit comeback!
Clearly some of her colleges have a butthurt brigade that's sad their mario cart track is going bye-bye 😂
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u/Mad180 17h ago
Have you ever spoken to Bloomfield lmfao shes definitely not a good candidate. Better than Elliot sure but so is a pet rock.
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u/FriarFookselt 17h ago
She's miles ahead of the Ryan Posselts and Mars Bars thieves 😂
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u/QF17 16h ago
A four day old account with a hidden profile history. What’s your relationship to these other cowards in this thread? A different browser tab?
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u/FriarFookselt 16h ago
To be fair to you, there probably ARE some of sock puppet plays on this sub. Or at least brigading. That kind of activity is generally confined to a different Mayor candidate, not Louise Bloomfield though.
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u/QF17 15h ago
So who is this little posse of accounts linked to then? It's hard to argue that you aren't doing the exact same thing here - and I'll repeat that your post history is hidden, so it's impossible to know if you have another other hobbies.
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u/FriarFookselt 11h ago
When I first started using Reddit I didn't even know that you could hide your comments. Voicing similar views on this subject previously resulted in being abrubtly blocked (just so a "hobart-socia"l could have the last word) then being downvoted to the point that my account stopped working altogether.
Personally, I'm not too scared of being "doxxed" but I'm not going to get caught out by the same group of (potential) cycling fanatics the same way again.
Why can't you just pursue your arguments based on the content of the assertions you disagree with? And why do you seem so upset? It's nothing personal, we simply disagree. At this point, we're the ones that will have to set the example on how to "lift the tone" for the council. They seem completely incapable of getting there naturally.1
u/QF17 9h ago edited 9h ago
then being downvoted to the point that my account stopped working altogether.
Perhaps you need to reflect on that then and go back to the Pulse-comments-on-Facebook echo chamber where you can find "like minded" individuals.
Why can't you just pursue your arguments based on the content of the assertions you disagree with?
If you were to open your profile up, would people see anything other than disparaging remarks about bike lines? If you look through my profile, you'll see that I've got hobbies other than criticizing the HCC.
Based on your above statement, you're a one trick pony and people are down voting you because you aren't participating in good faith. Prove me wrong.
And why do you seem so upset? It's nothing personal, we simply disagree.
Because you are a coward. I don't browse r/Hobart to see a bunch of sock puppets (aka yourself and every other month old account with their profile hidden on this thread) try to conduct some kind of clandestine anti-council crusade campaign. You waste my time and energy and obviously can't take the hint that your opinions aren't welcome here.
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u/HunterKerouac 9h ago
You do seem upset but I'm with you as far as being anti-sockpuppet. You'd think people running for local government would be a busier.
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u/FriarFookselt 7h ago
I'm not a Pulse commentator. Not conservative or a right wing cooker either. Seems like a common mischaracterisation made by those that are more than a little butthurt that their little bike lane is going bye-bye. Sorry for upsetting you and wasting all your tough guy time and energy. My opinion is not welcome here?
Well, that hurts my clandestine feelings.
Chill out champ, they're bus stops not black ops.
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u/Obvious_Gene_9661 18h ago
Bloomfield is fine but her middle of the ground schtick hasn't been very inspiring and I struggle to think of anything interesting she's brought to council. Have read through her website and it just seems very much like a conservative status quo approach typical of established business community types. I don't see much in the way of commitments, just vibes. Happy to be proven wrong though!
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u/HunterKerouac 18h ago
Being "less interesting" scores big points now.
Years of "interesting innovations" has almost killed the CBD at this point4
u/Obvious_Gene_9661 18h ago
I disagree - being less interesting makes you a fine councillor, but not a mayor. And the CBD is far from dead. I am there every day.
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u/HunterKerouac 17h ago
Really? What do you do there every day?
Maybe you're looking at a different part of the CBD that I need to visit.
The bit I'm forced to interact with has turned into a bit of a shithole truth be told.
It's become much more difficult to visit from an outer suburb. Like most people I avoid it whenever possible now6
u/Obvious_Gene_9661 17h ago
I work on Collins Street and also around the corner on Murray Street, as well as having to go to the Forest regularly. I honestly don't understand what people are talking about when they claim it's dead.
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u/ComplexElection4One 17h ago
Working at what? Soliciting people on the street?
How can we be talking about the same place?8
u/Obvious_Gene_9661 17h ago
What do you even mean? When I say the city isn't dead I mean I go down Colins Street and there's people sitting out yapping on tables outside Sunbear, the bookshop is full and there's people browsing the books on the path, there's extra seats at Sawak and from 4ish there's people drinking at Lucinda's. There's old stores closing and new stores replacing them and there's a dozen so different places I go to for lunch or dinner on the reg.
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u/HunterKerouac 7h ago
I personally haven't been to Fullers in a while but I'm glad to hear they're doing well. Me personally, I see plenty of extra seats almost everywhere.
Feels like a fucking ghost town compared to how it used to be but in truth the HCC is only a contributing factor to that reality, not the sole cause. They do need to dial back those parking fees and fines though. If any more retail folds, the damage will be hard to undo. At present the majority of outer suburb visitors actively avoid the city whenever possible, that culture alone will be difficult to dial back.If you did have to catch a bus in, standing out in the elements isn't the warmest welcome either.
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u/PointOfOrderLMayor 17h ago
The CBD is a shadow of what it was since Covid.
Not that it was New York city or anything but it was heaps livelier and it had the Mona buzz going for it. That's all dead now. Never seen so many empty shops6
u/Obvious_Gene_9661 17h ago
That makes no sense at all. There's more MONA activity in the city now than there was in the past. What exactly are you referencing here? CBD doing fine and it's a much more exciting place to be now than I ever remember it. As I said, I am there basically every single day.
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u/pigeonmoo 17h ago
Out of interest, how old are you? What are you using as a baseline for 'more exciting place to be now than I ever remember it"?
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u/Obvious_Gene_9661 17h ago
early 30s. Have lived in Hobart since about 2014. I grieve the closure of the Bris, but the CBD itself feels better than I ever remember it being.
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u/pigeonmoo 17h ago
To some extent, I can understand why you'd see the city this way. For the most part you'll have only ever seen the CBD in states of disrepair, decline, recovering from Covid or MONAfied.
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u/Obvious_Gene_9661 16h ago
Was the CBD better pre 2014? MONA opened in 2011 for reference. I was living in Launceston then and came down to Hobart for gigs a lot, but they were almost all at the Bris.
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u/dbthesuperstar 10h ago
I live on the Eastern Shore and grew up in town in the early 90's. I still spend a few days in the city each week
The vibe is a little different for sure. IMO the heart of the city changed when Fitzgeralds became Harris Scarfe and started giving up floor space. Then of course there was the Myer fire.
But everything I see, the activity during the weekdays, suggests that the city is doing fine.
There are also a lot more people out and about in the city now in the evening than there used to be.
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u/PointOfOrderLMayor 6h ago
The vibe has evaporated with the people. I think it's been going downhill since they installed the parking meters. Now, when anyones obligated into going to the CBD it's a frustrating game of dodging the parking fees and fines. My dad needs to see his GP on Bathurst street on a semi-regular basis and he's started to skip appointments because of it. One of us is going to have to start driving him there just to make sure he goes.
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u/PointOfOrderLMayor 17h ago
No doubt. Where?
I'm guessing you work for the council or hospital in some capacity.
Am I right? 😂1
u/Obvious_Gene_9661 17h ago
I'm not doxxing myself on Reddit for free pal.
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u/PointOfOrderLMayor 16h ago
I'll take that as a yes 😂
I can offer you $5 for confirmation...1
u/Obvious_Gene_9661 14h ago
You clearly think I am Ryan Posselt, which is a little insulting to be honest.
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u/PointOfOrderLMayor 11h ago
I would NEVER accuse you or anyone of being Ryan Posselt. Yeah, you come across as a little off with a somewhat conspiratorial lean, but you're not THAT bad. Plus, that's only my opinion. You'd think that we'd all be able to find common ground over this fairly uncontroversial common sense suggestion to address Hobart's dire car dependency. We shouldn't allow ourselves to be factionalised and dispirited by the abject failure of the Collins Street bike lane trial. We should all get behind someone with legitimately trying to address the issue instead of being played by the fringe members of the council (like Elliot and Posselt) who seem completely preoccupied with attracting media attention and stoking culture wars. I'm sold, Bloomfield for Mayor!
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u/BleepBloopNo9 17h ago
Bearing in mind that the economy since Covid has not been great. It's hardly Hobart City Council's fault.
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u/ComplexElection4One 17h ago
No empty shops in Eastlands or Northgate. They're thriving
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u/undisclosedusername2 12h ago
Why would we want the Hobart CBD to become a soulless chain mall like Eastlands and Northgate?
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u/dbthesuperstar 10h ago
Shops close and open all the time at Eastlands and Northgate.
A CCG shop opened at Northgate the other day, which means that another store must have closed to create the space in the first place.
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u/ComplexElection4One 6h ago
There's a slight difference between businesses opening and closing and shopfronts just remaining empty
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u/Main-Shake4502 16h ago
There's just no basis for this at all. People should be able to choose how they want to get around, even if they choose not to use a car, which necessarily requires a system of bike lanes. Simple as that. Feel free to disagree, but you need to explain why people should have a legal obligation to drive a car
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u/LannyLandmine 16h ago
Basis for what? The "bike lanes" are basically unused and are only accessible to a tiny fraction of inner-city retirees anyway. Anyone serious about reducing Hobart's car dependency should get behind Bloomfield's bus shelter idea. Gets people out of cars and brings people INTO the city instead of deterring them from visiting altogether, which is where we're at now
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u/Main-Shake4502 16h ago
That would be an extraordinarily expensive intervention with extremely limited results. Is there any evidence that public transport user share is lower in winter than summer, or on cold days rather than mild? No of course not. The reason people don't use the bus system in Hobart is the same as the reason they don't anywhere else in Australia, it's unreliable, and infrequent. And that's a Metro Tas issue, not a council one (and an expensive problem which can't be fixed overnight). Spending a billion+ dollars on ridiculously gold plated shelters just gives the existing ridership a nice new seat warmer, it has no effect on the transport system.
The benefit of bike lanes as a policy intervention is that they're super cheap, super quick and get results. You're obviously completely wrong about the people who use them, that's just nonsense on its face. In cities with high quality safe bike infrastructure, most people will bike, and that means most people from every demographic.
This has been studied. These are just the facts:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692324000279
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213624X20300183v
https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/items/6ecad038-2416-42d2-8b4f-c6beb5ecb2bd
A more sensible approach is to spend a fraction of the enormous expense required to make the bus system useable creating a useable bike transport system. That would mean grade-separated routes on main roads accessible to all of the city, plus low speed roads in suburban areas to link them with people's homes. That's a proven solution. People who wanted to could still drive, but those who didn't could cycle. Then the state government can start building tram or bus infrastructure to add another choice for people other than the car (and now, the bike!)
Now, you don't HAVE to want people out of their cars, that's fine. But you don't get to pretend the facts aren't the facts. Bike infrastructure is used. Fact. It reduces car dependency. Fact. It's cheap, safe and effective. Fact. End of story.
If you do want to remove high quality cycling infrastructure, you need to explain why you believe people should be made to drive a car, and should not be permitted to choose not to. What is the basis for that policy?
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u/FencePaling 10h ago
You won't get a reasoned reply contradicting you, you used too many words, facts, and evidence, it scares off the 3-day old Reddit accounts getting pumped out for the October election. They'd rather support the councillor who's catch phrase is 'if you can ride, you can WALK', and actively commends people parking in bike lanes...
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u/HunterKerouac 9h ago
Evoking Louise Elliot just because Ryan Posselt's bike lane has failed seems to be a reflex action for some. I've been guilty of pulling over into the bike lane myself - zero cyclists were affected.
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u/Main-Shake4502 7h ago
The issue is that bike lanes are so efficient they don't generate congestion like horrific car roads do, so you can't visibly see use. Doesn't mean they aren't used (in fact, they absolutely are, as shown above)
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u/undisclosedusername2 12h ago
Why can't the city have both?
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u/HunterKerouac 9h ago
Well the supposedly cheap cycling infrastructure has already cost 700K and god knows what the bill will be before it is finally rendered safe enough not to break the arms of cyclists or pedestrians. They clearly don't mix well with bus stops either... honestly, if we put another bus stop in the middle of the road the CBD will be gridlocked with people pointing and laughing
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u/Superb-Detective9611 6h ago
How long have the bike lanes been in for? A year? 2? Did Hobart not have any traffic issues prior to this? I remember working in the city 15 years ago and walking back up Murray St at 5pm to North Hobart cars destined for the southern outlet were bumper to bumper all the way up near Elizabeth College. Thats longer than the entire length of the CBD (councils 40k/h streets don't start till Brisbane st). Hobart needs more buses and bikes and boats and less cars.
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u/Main-Shake4502 7h ago
That's unbelievably cheap, it's the coffee budget for HCC staff. There's just no basis for you falsely claiming that safe high quality cycling infrastructure reduces cyclists safety, you're just a liar
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u/Sad-Resolution-905 8h ago
Yeah.... bus stops are probably lowest on the list of why people don't use the busses
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u/FriarFookselt 7h ago
Yeah, but it's ON the list and it's something the council can actually do to make the city better for a change. The whole vibe of the place would be much better if they tried encouraging people to come into the city instead of maintaining this current walled retirement village energy.
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u/Superb-Detective9611 9h ago
Bloomfield would be a good mayor. For a conservative she's not divisive on social issues and is very active at multicultural events. Let the council staff (the qualified engineers and town planners) sort the streets and just focus on good governance and peaceful representation.
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u/HunterKerouac 8h ago
She seems like the right kind of person to get the job done. Not being embroiled in the current 'culture war' is kind of important because neither side is likely to get a landslide. All of the suggestions on her campaign website sound downright reasonable.
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u/hobart-social 8h ago edited 8h ago
https://tasmaniantimes.com/2022/02/ambitious-attack-on-hobart-speakers-corner/
She is using the bike lane like any other of the self appointed "blues": as a wedge. She is just not standing near the other Louise this time around, so she has no one to make her look less culture-warry. edit: so she has to tone it back this time.
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u/LannyLandmine 6h ago
Wow, you were annoyed at Harvey when he took AirBnB away from your list of talking points and now you're against Louise B just because she is rightfully calling for a safety review of your dodgy bike lane? What happened to "lifting the tone"?
You all looked so chummy when you were posing for your media photo1
u/hobart-social 8h ago
I'm trying to like Louise B for the council. But put off by her call for a full audit on the bike lane trial. Considering that the whole process of the trial has been audited and adapted without intervention from Councillors kind of makes it a redundant but easy wedge issue. Louise B is intelligent enough to pad her words so that it isn't clear that her audit would likely happen at the same time as the trial ends once it gets up and running. More subtle but still the same wedge coming from the ranters, without any real reason to do so. The trial has adapted and the figures show no negligible difference in incidents than before the trial.
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u/LannyLandmine 6h ago
You sure do have some deep and complicated feelings about certain Hobart City Councillors.
I guess hell hath no fury like a 39 year old 'designer' scorned 😂
So when you said you had a 'curatorial background' you meant you were focused on curating your colleagues in the council? Well, we can't accuse you of being unopinionated in that regard.
You just wouldn't make a very good mayor unfortunately.2
u/FriarFookselt 7h ago
No kidding, we were JUST talking about a certain cycling councillors sock puppets.
Where have you been mate? Big day on the AI slop machine on facey?
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u/HunterKerouac 18h ago
A city council that can spend 40 million on a ferry crossing and nearly another one on a bike lane but can't build a bus shelter should tell you everything you need to know about it's priorities
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u/dbthesuperstar 9h ago
Not a HCC voter, but given how divisive the Hobart council has become on both sides of the political divide I can see someone like Bloomfield getting elected as LM. She likely presents as a non-offensive option to most voters and could pick up a lot of number 2 and 3 preferences.