By World War One the north-western coastal town of Devonport had begun to develop into the third most important town in Tasmania. It possessed a small but growing industrial economy and port and an increasing population, causing the town to expand. These developments, while welcomed, underlined how badly Devonport had originally been laid out. The...

Enthusiasts in Launceston, the second biggest city in Tasmania, had pushed the virtues of town planning between 1915 and 1945 without much success because of a lack of effective legislation and of town planning expertise. The advent of the Town Planning Act 1944 and of the advice given by successive Town and County Planning Commissioners...

Between 1945 and 1956 R. A. McInnis served as Tasmania’s first Town and Country Planning Commissioner and was charged with the responsibility of winning acceptance for the Town and Country Planning Act 1944, the first major piece of planning legislation in Tasmania. During his period as Commissioner McInnis faced many obstacles and challenges and did...