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Issues ConditionProcesses and Agents of ChangeWaste Management and Contamination |
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At a glance 
The issue Settlements are 'the environment' for their citizens and most people interact with the environment through an urban setting. So the state of the urban environment directly influences the quality of life and the sense of place that people appreciate. The urban environment is also important because settlements affect a number of aspects of environmental condition described in this SoE Report. Population growth is generally viewed as a 'pressure' indicator in relation to the environment, although population loss may equally be viewed as an indication of pressure where it is associated with rural decline or insufficient capacity to fund essential infrastructure and provide essential services. This 'At a glance section provides an overview of population and settlement patterns. More detailed information and references are available in the Population and Settlement Patterns Issue Report. Indicators are presented relating to population distribution, dwelling completions, land cover and land use (see Indicators). Related recommendations include Settlement Patterns and Processes, Sustainable Housing and Sustainable Development in Bushfire Prone Areas. The report provides information about Tasmania's settlements including population size, population distribution, housing completions, land uses in Greater Hobart and Launceston, and land cover. The environmental implications of population and settlement patterns are reviewed in other parts of the report. However, some of the links with these issues are identified. Some of these broad measures of population and settlement patterns contained in the Issue Report include:- Tasmania's resident population at August 2001 was 456,652, according to the Census of Population and Housing 2001 (ABS 2001), a decline of 0.7% since the 1996 census. The 2001 derived estimated resident population (ABS 2002) is 471,604. The most recent estimated resident population (March 2003) is 476,199. Tasmania's share of the total population of Australia declined from 2.9% in 1976 to 2.7% in 1991, 2.6% in 1996 and 2.4% in 2001. March 2003 figures reveal that the percentage remained relatively stable since the 2001 census (ABS 2001 and ABS 2003).
- The concentration of population distribution in Tasmania appears to have shifted only marginally on a Statewide level. There was a slight shift to the south-east in the geographic centre of the Tasmanian population from 1991 to 2001 (measured for three census periods).
However, within this generally static Statewide situation, significant changes can be identified. Some examples are provided below. These are based on the ABS classification of population centres as either 'urban centre 1' (20,000 people or more), 'urban centre 2' (1,000 to 19,999) or 'locality' (200 to 999). Other information sources include dwelling completions and land use mapping.- The majority of the fastest growing localities are outside the urban centre 1 areas.
- The total number of residents living in urban centre 1 areas (more than 20,000 people) decreased marginally from 216,118 to 216,066 between 1996 and 2001 (ABS 2001). There were three urban centres with more than 20,000 people in 2001: Hobart (126,048), Launceston (68,443), and Devonport (21,575).
- Census data (ABS 2001) reveals a slight decrease in the total number of residents living in urban centre 2 areas, or middle sized population centres (1,000-19,999 people), from 114,715 to 113,639, a 0.9% decrease between 1996 and 2001. The largest percentage increases occurred at centres including Perth, Legana, Port Sorell, Hadspen, Kingston, Bridport, Turners Beach, Pontville, Old Beach, and Dodges Ferry. Further information is provided in Population Distribution.
- The total number of residents living in localities (200-999 people) increased only slightly from 30,559 to 30,677 (0.4% increase) between 1996 and 2001 (ABS 2001). The largest percentage increases occurred at centres including Scamander, Lewisham, Otago, Sulphur Creek, Eaglehawk Neck, Howden, Cremorne, Leith, Woodbridge, Oatlands, Strahan, South-Arm and Richmond. Further information is provided in Population Distribution.
- In the period 1992-02, 1,959 dwellings were completed in the Greater Hobart region and 977 in Launceston. The location of dwelling completion, as shown in the New Dwelling Completions indicator, provides one measure of urban growth. However, Tasmania's return to population growth since 2001 and the greater number of interstate arrivals are likely to result in greater demand for residential developments on the State than occurred during the 1990s.
- Using the data compiled for the Tasmanian Land Use Mapping Project (see below), a snapshot of land use in Greater Hobart and Launceston was prepared. The data show that urban residential land use occupies 8,586 ha (9.6%) and rural residential occupies 10,265 ha (11.5%) of the Greater Hobart Statistical Division region. 'Grazing modified pastures' occupy 16,491 ha or 18.4%. Remnant native cover has the highest areal coverage of 26,738 ha, or 29.9% of the region. In the Launceston Statistical Sub-Division, remnant native cover occupies 11,676 ha or 14.5% of the total area. Grazing modified pastures occupy the largest area of 36,131 ha or 45% of the total area.
Favourable news- The return to population growth experienced recently in Tasmania as outlined above provides social and economic benefits for the State.
- The availability of a recent aerial photographic coverage of Greater Hobart and Launceston, prepared by DPIWE, enables urban extent, as well as a range of other natural values, to be identified with greater accuracy within these regions.
- The availability of a recent aerial photographic coverage of Greater Hobart and Launceston prepared by DPIWE enables urban extent, as well as a range of other natural values, to be identified with greater accuracy within these regions.
- The Tasmanian Land Use Mapping Project (Drenen 2003) was established in 2001 to create a land use and land management practice digital dataset for Tasmania using a standardised land use classification (ALUM) (see Land Use Mapping Project for further information).
- The Simplifying Planning Schemes project was initiated by the Premier's Local Government Council through a Statewide partnership agreement in October 2000. Phase 2 of the project commenced in February 2002 and included developing a framework for strategic planning underpinning planning schemes. A 'Discussion Paper about Strategic Planning and Planning Schemes' was prepared to canvass ways of improving the strategic planning that underpins planning schemes (State Government and LGAT 2002).
- The establishment of Partnership Agreements between State and Local government provides the basis for joint approaches to strategic environmental and natural resource issues affecting urban and rural councils.
Unfavourable news- Dispersed settlement patterns have led to widespread and mixed environmental impacts on air and water quality, and on heritage, biodiversity and landscape values. Population decline in some rural areas appears to have had adverse impacts on social cohesion and quality of life, and has undermined the economic viability of some rural enterprises. There are economic and environmental costs associated with dispersed and uncoordinated settlement patterns.
- Without effective controls, continuing residential development of privately owned land and clearing of bushland can lead to a loss of biodiversity and visual amenity, qualities that are valued by both residents and visitors to the State. Dispersed settlement patterns in fire-susceptible bushland continue to present challenges in managing fire risk.
- Some settlements in low-lying coastal areas are vulnerable to storm events that may have a greater frequency and intensity because of climate change. The issue of adapting coastal settlements to climate change is reviewed in the Adapting Coastal Settlements to Climate Change Issue Report.
Uncertain news- Urban area is not easily definable because it consists of a continuum from heavily built with small lot sizes to lightly built with large lot sizes in bushland settings. The urban area can be based on a physical or land cover description, statistical boundaries such as the Greater Hobart Statistical Division, community-based boundaries such as the location of towns and suburbs, or municipal boundaries. Defining what constitutes the urban area-urban development is increasingly dispersed across the landscape-and determining the physical rate of growth of our settlements are some of the challenges. Housing completion data can be used as a measure of where residential development is occurring, although this doesn't necessarily provide an accurate estimate of the land area affected.
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