Tasmania's planning authority rules against plans for cable car at Hobart’s Mt Wellington

The controversial project for a cable car at Hobart’s Mt Wellington has suffered a major setback with the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) upholding the Hobart City Council's decision to reject the project.

The Mt Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) had tried to appeal against the Council's decision, presenting TASCAT with a scaled-back proposal for its planned the visitor attraction.

MWCC’s updated plans reduced the footprint of buildings on the summit of Mt Wellington and halved the number of people allowed to travel in the cable cars.

However, in its ruling, the Tribunal upheld the Council's original refusal, finding MWCC failed to satisfy 18 of 26 contested grounds for refusal.

Those grounds include the noise of the proposed cable car, its impact on the biodiversity of the mountain and the project's visual impact.

MWCC now has the option to appeal the decision again in court, but will have to wait two years before lodging a development application with the Hobart City Council for the same or a similar project.

Residents Opposed to the Cable Car President Vica Bayley said he was "relieved and thankful" following the decision and called on the proponents to permanently shelve their proposal, stating “this is a clear signal to the proponent, its shareholders and supporters to give up on their vision to privatise the mountain and abandon this, or any alternative cable car development.

"This saga has cost the community dearly - in time, energy, cohesion and money - and it's time it ended, and the developer is the only one that can do that.

"We will always fight for the mountain and now work to restore some of the management protections that were amended, in vain as it turns out, to facilitate this development."

Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre campaign manager Nala Mansell said Aboriginal people were "overjoyed that kunanyi would remain protected today and into the future".

MWCC Cchair Chris Oldfield said he was disappointed with the decision, and the company would take time to consider the project's future, noting “we need to get advice from our legal and planning advisers on the technical detail of the tribunal's determination.

"The tribunal's determination and its implications for the future of the project also need to be considered by our board and key shareholders."

MWCC had advanced its proposal despite not owning or having a lease agreement for land at the summit of Mt Wellington or for its proposed base station. However, legislation allowing the Tasmanian Government to compulsorily acquire land from the Hobart City Council for the project been passed in the Lower House of the Tasmanian Parliament in 2017.

Image shows MWCC's 2017 concept for its planned cable car at Hobart’s Mt Wellington.