Mount Wellington Cableway Company to appeal Hobart City Council rejection

Backers of the proposed cable car rising above Hobart’s Mount Wellington are continuing to fight for their project to go ahead lodging an appeal against its rejection with the planning tribunal.

Hobart City Council last month rejected the proposal by the Mount Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) following receipt of an independent planning report that recommended it refuse the application on 21 grounds.

However, MWCC lodged an appeal with Tasmania’s Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal last week.

MWCC Chief Executive, Chris Oldfield said the company would be challenging all 21 grounds and believed it has a solid case, telling local newspaper The Examiner “there are some people who really want to see this project happen.

“They were unhappy that it was assessed by a council, several of which who were elected on an anti-cable car ticket. We believe having the opportunity to put our case before an independent planning tribunal would be a way to have the case assessed on its merit.

"The support for this project is statewide ... South Hobart people aren't the only custodians of the mountain. The mountain belongs to all Tasmanians and a lot of those Tasmanians want to see improved transport solutions on the mountain."

Stating that the company was not given a proper chance to rectify planning issues, Oldfield added “one of the 21 reasons for rejection was to do with storm water which the council's own expert said could be resolved by putting in a 5,000 litre water tank. We weren't given the chance to address that.

"The council chose not to discuss those matters with us. We believe we could have resolved those issues just through further consultation, they chose not to do that and we look forward to arguing that before a tribunal."

A spokesperson for Residents Opposed to the Cable Car said they were disappointed and frustrated by the appeal.

MWCC, which owns none of the land it is proposing to develop, is proposing a develop a cableway with three towers and base station in South Hobart, as well as a restaurant and cafe at Mount Wellington’s pinnacle, which would require a new building with a maximum height of 11.4 metres.

Image: Mount Wellington Cableway Company's concept for its cableway.