Community Environment Park

We are a community-based, non-political, not-for-profit organization, started in 1972 as the Tasmanian Environmental Home Expo Centre.

The Tasmanian Environmental Home Expo's project started in 2000 when Andy Townsend was inspired by CERES in Brunswick. The Australian Greenhouse Office was providing seed funding for same projects in each state to encourage Greenhouse education. Andy convened a working group which excitedly worked on a submission, through the Tasmanian Environment Centre.

At the end of 2000 The AGO changed its mind about the national project but the Community Environment Park planning group was dedicated to a park in Tasmania and persuaded that the deserted and idle Beaumaris Zoo site on the Queen's Domain in Hobart was the ideal location. A Founding Donor scheme allows the planning group to offer a proposal to the Queen's Domain Advisory Committee of Hobart City Council in November 2001 and the Environmental Home Expo and several community meetings gathered substantial community and business support.

Hobart City Council accepted the Committee's advice that they open an expression-of-interest process for the site. This finally occurred in November 2002 and the TEC planning group again put in a proposal, in February 2003. This contained landscape concept drawings by landscape architect Sue Small and environmental education centre concept by architects James Morrison and Yvette Breytenbach.

One of four proposals for the Beaumaris Zoo site was The Community Environment Park. It was not the chosen project but the group is continuing to work on locating an appropriate and accessible site both within and beyond the Hobart City municipality. It is value noting that the project selected for the Beaumaris site, a wildlife treatment centre, has not yet begin development due to funding difficulties. We have not given up wish.