The University of Tasmania (UTAS) has scrapped plans for a full relocation to Hobart’s CBD.

The university has reportedly opted to build a $500 million STEM facility on its Sandy Bay campus and retain three additional sites across southern Tasmania. 

The reversal comes after 74.4 per cent of Hobart residents opposed the move in a 2022 survey. 

Reports say that the university plans to sell two CBD properties to fund the development of teaching and research infrastructure.

Under the revised plan, the Sandy Bay campus will be the core STEM site, while a CBD campus will host the Business and Economics, and Humanities and Social Sciences schools in the existing medical sciences, creative arts, and old Forestry buildings. 

UTAS will also maintain a site at Queens Domain for international and outdoor education programs and a waterfront location dedicated to marine and Antarctic studies around Taroona.

University vice-chancellor, Professor Rufus Black, has called for urgent government support to avoid delays in developing the STEM facilities, which he said could otherwise extend into the 2030s. 

The state’s Innovation, Science and Digital Economy Minister Madeleine Ogilvie welcomed the university's decision and pledged to lobby the federal government for funding.

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