Prospective candidate for Mayor and Council paul mallett is calling for community value to sit on equal footing with economic value, proposing a plan for the Boag's site built around three things Launceston needs more of: somewhere to connect, a front door for the whole city, and a better way to get around.

LAUNCESTON, TASMANIA, 7 July 2026: paul mallett, Launceston-based author, community services leader and prospective candidate for Mayor and Council of the City of Launceston, wants to ensure the voice of the community, and community value, has an equal seat at the table from the very beginning of decisions about the Boag's site, and has put forward a vision ahead of The Examiner's Beyond Boag's roundtable on 8 July.

mallett said his first concern was for the workers, families and suppliers whose lives have been connected to Boag's for generations.

"The loss of an employer like Boag's is deeply significant for the people whose livelihoods depend on it and for a city that has grown up around it. I sincerely hope a future can still be found for brewing in Launceston," he said.

"I genuinely hope brewing can continue at Boag's. That would be the best outcome for the workers, the industry and our city. But if it can't, I would like us to use this site to help build a healthier, more connected, more vibrant city, around three things: somewhere to connect, a front door for the city, and a better way to get around," mallett said.

Somewhere to connect. mallett proposed preserving a meaningful portion of the site for community use, a large undercover, all-weather space that supports parking during the week and becomes a new Kanamaluka Market on Sunday mornings, hosting markets, expos, festivals, emergency relief activity, youth programs and fitness events, like HYROX.

"My parents ran a Sunday market stall for decades at the old Show Grounds and Inveresk. Harvest has shown what a market can do for a city. Kanamaluka Market could be a northern bookend to Salamanca," he said.

A front door for the whole city. Alongside the market, mallett proposed a multi-tenant access hub bringing government and community services together in one place, potentially including state and commonwealth services, alongside co-working space for care economy operators, allied health providers, micro-businesses and local support services.

"The front door should be easy to find, and what's on the other side of it should actually hold. People too often have to chase what they need across five different buildings, whether that's a parent, a carer, a small operator, or a local service trying to grow. This could be the place that makes engaging with this city easier, not harder," he said.

A better way to get around. mallett proposed a modern bus exchange and free city loop bus at Shield Street, paired with an all-weather civic plaza linking straight into the community-use portion of the precinct. For active transport, he proposed a pedestrian and cycling bridge from Shield Street to Holbrook Street, in the spirit of the existing link between Riverbend and Seaport, connecting through to Riverbend Park one way, and Inveresk, UTAS and QVMAG the other.

"That's how a city actually becomes more walkable, a network you can use every day, not a slogan," he said.

mallett said the bridge could eventually connect to a park-and-ride facility on underused land near the flood levee between the Mayne Street bridge and the Mowbray connector, letting people park outside the CBD and walk, ride or loop-bus in. Pair that with a new City Bridge just north of there and we have completely transformed the way we move toward our city.

"That takes pressure off the city centre and gives people more ways in than just another car park," he said.

mallett said the site should be judged against what Launceston has already achieved a short walk away at Inveresk over the past thirty years. Together, we turned an old rail yard into a thriving education and cultural precinct, anchored by QVMAG and UTAS.

"Nobody thinks of Inveresk as a rail yard anymore. I would like us to ask the same question of Boag's: not who buys the land, but what it can do for this city," he said.

mallett said none of this required stopping development on the site.

"Launceston needs investment, jobs, housing and hospitality here as much as anywhere. Most of this site is now, and will remain, private land. But respecting private ownership does not mean staying quiet about public value. The question was never whether development happens. It is whether it only takes value from this site, or gives something back too," he said.

mallett said the practical next step was for council, the State Government, Lion, community leaders, service providers, transport planners, heritage experts and business representatives to sit down together before decisions harden, starting with a strong community voice at The Examiner's roundtable on 8 July.

"Inveresk didn't happen by accident. People looked at an old rail yard and saw more than what was already there. Boag's is owed that same imagination. That is how we build a vibrant city," he said.

Proposal summary

• Preserve a meaningful portion of the precinct for community use as part of any future redevelopment.
• Create a multi-tenant access hub, a front door for government and community services, potentially including allied health providers, community organisations and care economy operators.
• Include flexible co-working space for care economy micro, small and medium-sized providers.
• Develop a large undercover, all-weather civic space that supports parking during the week and becomes a new Kanamaluka Market on Sunday mornings.
• Use the flexible space for expos, festivals, youth activities, emergency relief activity, fitness events and larger civic gatherings.
• Explore Shield Street as a modern city bus exchange, paired with a free city loop bus through the CBD.
• Create an all-weather Shield Street civic plaza, linking public transport directly into the community-use portion of the precinct.
• Build a pedestrian and cycling bridge from Shield Street to Holbrook Street, supporting people to access Riverbend Park, Inveresk, UTAS and QVMAG, part of a fifteen minute neighbourhood network.
• Plan for a future park-and-ride facility north of the city near the Mayne Street bridge and Mowbray connector.
• Signal council's expectations early, so responsible developers have clarity that Launceston welcomes investment, but expects public value alongside it.

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Note to editors: The candidate's name, paul mallett, is styled in lowercase deliberately and should be reproduced as written. This is not a typographical error.

About the candidate
paul mallett is a Launceston-based social policy author, systems thinker, and community services leader with more than thirty years of experience across homelessness, housing, children and family services, disability, aged care, early learning, and the care economy.

He is the author of vibrant city, a story of Launceston's future told from 2064, a community leader looking back across four decades of change alongside a young data guardian verifying his account. Chapter by chapter, it imagines a Launceston that works, cares, moves, lifts its kids, creates and celebrates, and grows as a city in a garden. He proposes a freshwater Tamar Lake, a second river crossing built for walking and cycling from day one, a cradle-to-career system for every child, and a city-wide movement for health and belonging. It is not a fantasy of a perfect city. It is a civic provocation, a way of asking whether the place we already love could become fairer, kinder, more confident, and more vibrant.

He is also the author of vibrant state, vibrant nation, The Kind Politics Playbook, and the Vibrant Leadership Series of policy blueprints: A State of Good Health, A Home for Everyone, Affordable Warmth, Every Child Succeeds, and "It's the Care Economy, Stupid!". He founded vibrantnation.au to share practical reform ideas for more vibrant communities.