CICK FOR COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS
PENTRIDGE, Joe. ... 2,494
Newly-elected City of Launceston councillor Joe Pentridge has been ordered to remove an illegal and unapproved bridge over the North Esk river.
A Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania spokesperson said: "The PWS [Parks and Wildlife Service] has issued Mr Pintarich with a Penalty Infringement Notice and a direction to remove the bridge by 1 February 2023."
Mr Pentridge erected the bridge on the ANZAC Day weekend in April without seeking the necessary approval from the department in relation to crown land at the edge of the river.
Approval from the Department was required before Mr Pentridge, who also goes by the name Joseph Pintarich, could lodge a development approval with the council.
The bridge connects two pieces of land owned by Mr Pintarich's companies Holly Pty Ltd and Pentridge Pty Ltd at 49 Boland Street and 50 Wildor Crescent respectively.
After the bridge appeared the City of Launceston and the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service commenced a joint investigation. He was served with a stop work notice in May.
Council chief executive Michael Stretton said this week: "The City of Launceston does not comment on active legal proceedings."
Earlier this year Mr Stretton said: "The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service and City of Launceston have been working to bring this matter to its conclusion as a matter of priority."
"The relevant notices were served by the City of Launceston earlier this week with respect of the illegal bridgeworks on Crown Land which was undertaken without the necessary planning or building approvals."
In June Mr Stretton said:"If the Crown consents to the bridge remaining on their land, an application can be made and Council will consider it on its merits under the planning scheme and other relevant legislation.
Mr Pintarich did not respond to a request for comment about the removal notice.
However in June Mr Pintarich made comments to the Examiner about the bridge which he said was to enable evacuation of cattle from his Glebe Farm property at 49 Boland Street to higher ground near Vermont Rd during a flood.
He said the bridge was built to replace a wooden bridge that was burnt in the 1960s.
"There was always a bridge there," he said.
"It is built on the same abutments as that bridge and is two metres above the highest of high tides."
He said the bridge would withstand a flood similar to one in 2016.
Other possibilities would be the use of the bridge for a pedestrian walk from Corra Linn to the Cataract Gorge or for cyclists.
He was concerned that such a big deal had been made of the bridge.
"The bridge is not that easy to see, you have got to go looking for it," he said.
"It will be for everyone to use and benefit long after I'm gone."
Mr Pintarich declined to reveal how much the bridge had cost him to construct.
"I would also like to highlight the fact that the bridge is higher than all of the existing bridges already in place over the North Esk River, therefore it is not the flood hazard that those bridges are," he said.
"It is also not a hazard to river traffic as it is not piled, whereas the original bridge piles are still in place and constitute a hazard to river users.
"The bridge joins two private properties and is part of the farm infrastructure here at the Glebe and all engineering requirements have been complied with and standards have been met during its construction and installation."
Right to Information documents obtained by the Examiner reveal that Mr Stretton and general manager infrastructure and assets Shane Eberhardt met Mr Pentridge at 8am on November 22, 2021 to discuss the 50 Wildor Crescent Bridge matter.
However, Mr Eberhardt's email to Parks and Wildlife Service director operations John Lloyd were redacted by the department's RTI.
On May 12, 2022 council's manager infrastructure and engineering Kathryn Pugh wrote: "The intent of the bridge engineering inspection is to work out whether or not we would provide retrospective approval for the structure."
Mr Pentridge was elected to the council on November 2 after securing 2494 first preference votes - the fourth highest number.
One Mr Pentridge's election advertisements said: "Frustrated with your Council ? Send them a message send them Joe."
A Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania spokesperson said: "The PWS [Parks and Wildlife Service] has issued Mr Pintarich with a Penalty Infringement Notice and a direction to remove the bridge by 1 February 2023."
Mr Pentridge erected the bridge on the ANZAC Day weekend in April without seeking the necessary approval from the department in relation to crown land at the edge of the river.
Approval from the Department was required before Mr Pentridge, who also goes by the name Joseph Pintarich, could lodge a development approval with the council.
The bridge connects two pieces of land owned by Mr Pintarich's companies Holly Pty Ltd and Pentridge Pty Ltd at 49 Boland Street and 50 Wildor Crescent respectively.
After the bridge appeared the City of Launceston and the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service commenced a joint investigation. He was served with a stop work notice in May.
Council chief executive Michael Stretton said this week: "The City of Launceston does not comment on active legal proceedings."
Councilor's cattle bridge must go
Earlier this year Mr Stretton said: "The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service and City of Launceston have been working to bring this matter to its conclusion as a matter of priority."
"The relevant notices were served by the City of Launceston earlier this week with respect of the illegal bridgeworks on Crown Land which was undertaken without the necessary planning or building approvals."
In June Mr Stretton said:"If the Crown consents to the bridge remaining on their land, an application can be made and Council will consider it on its merits under the planning scheme and other relevant legislation.
Mr Pintarich did not respond to a request for comment about the removal notice.
However in June Mr Pintarich made comments to the Examiner about the bridge which he said was to enable evacuation of cattle from his Glebe Farm property at 49 Boland Street to higher ground near Vermont Rd during a flood.
He said the bridge was built to replace a wooden bridge that was burnt in the 1960s.
"There was always a bridge there," he said.
Councilor's cattle bridge must go
He said the bridge would withstand a flood similar to one in 2016.
Other possibilities would be the use of the bridge for a pedestrian walk from Corra Linn to the Cataract Gorge or for cyclists.
He was concerned that such a big deal had been made of the bridge.
"The bridge is not that easy to see, you have got to go looking for it," he said.
"It will be for everyone to use and benefit long after I'm gone."
Mr Pintarich declined to reveal how much the bridge had cost him to construct.
"I would also like to highlight the fact that the bridge is higher than all of the existing bridges already in place over the North Esk River, therefore it is not the flood hazard that those bridges are," he said.
"It is also not a hazard to river traffic as it is not piled, whereas the original bridge piles are still in place and constitute a hazard to river users.
Councilor's cattle bridge must go
"The bridge joins two private properties and is part of the farm infrastructure here at the Glebe and all engineering requirements have been complied with and standards have been met during its construction and installation."
Right to Information documents obtained by the Examiner reveal that Mr Stretton and general manager infrastructure and assets Shane Eberhardt met Mr Pentridge at 8am on November 22, 2021 to discuss the 50 Wildor Crescent Bridge matter.
However, Mr Eberhardt's email to Parks and Wildlife Service director operations John Lloyd were redacted by the department's RTI.
On May 12, 2022 council's manager infrastructure and engineering Kathryn Pugh wrote: "The intent of the bridge engineering inspection is to work out whether or not we would provide retrospective approval for the structure."
Councilor's cattle bridge must go
Mr Pentridge was elected to the council on November 2 after securing 2494 first preference votes - the fourth highest number.
One Mr Pentridge's election advertisements said: "Frustrated with your Council ? Send them a message send them Joe."
In another advertisement he talked of the need for a bridge - a bridge over the Tamar River from Riverside to Newnham.
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