Plans move forward for Mount Wellington cable car

The sometimes controversial plans for a cable car to take visitors and adventurers to the top of Hobart's Mount Wellington are to be guided through the approvals process with help from a Federal Government agency.

The Federal Government's Tasmanian Major Projects Approval Agency was set up in July to advise the proponents of projects worth $50 million.

This week, the Mount Wellington Cableway Company has announced that it is to receive assistance from the agency.

Mt Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) Executive Director Adrian Bold said the agency would help the company meet the regulatory requirements.

Bold told the ABC "we really welcome the assistance from the Major Projects Approval Agency to help us identify anything that we might encounter further down the line early on so that we can remove risk and delay as we push this project forward.

"It's a very positive step because it will reduce any delay further in to the planning process that we're on."

Backed by Tasmania's Liberal Party when in opposition in 2010, the MWCC was officially established in 2012 to develop a cable car attraction for Mt Wellington.

After several years of public consultation the current MWCC proposal is for a two-part route from Cascade Brewery to a pinnacle centre at the summit, including a restaurant, café and function centre.

With plans for an aerial cableway/cable car on Mt Wellington having been proposed on several occasions over the past century, the current proposal has proved controversial.

Environmental and Indigenous groups have objected to the plans while, in August this year, the ABC reported that one of the supporters of the proposal did not exist.

The Tasmanian Government removed the Mount Wellington Park Management Trust (MWPMT)'s power to veto developments on the mountain last November, changing the law after the Trust received 264 public submissions, many from locals opposing a cable car development.

One submission in support of the cable car plan was sent by a person named Nathan Carswell whom lobby group Residents Opposed to Cable Car claimed was a fictitious person.

Later Bold told the ABC that Nathan Carswell was an alias of a ‘friend’ who did not want to put his real name to the submission because of sensitivities with his employer.

With the MWPMT having prohibited commercial improvements and cable car infrastructure for the past 20 years, Bold has mounted a combatitive campaign in favour of the cable car proposal.

The MWCC claims to have the necessary funding for the proposal and is backed by an “(international) consortium to deliver the capital, engineering and manufacturing know-how” for the project.

For more information go to www.mtwellingtoncablecar.com

Image shows the Mount Wellington cable car concept, courtesy of Mount Wellington Cable Car.

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