Hobart’s cable car worry

Council worried about liability, lack of information

HOBART aldermen have raised concerns that the council could still be legally responsible for the land on kunanyi/ Mt Wellington to be acquired by the State Government to pave the way for a cable car.

At a meeting of the full council last night, Hobart aldermen debated what the response of the council would be to the draft Mt Wellington Cable Car Facilitation Bill before the deadline for submissions on August 4.

An analysis of the legislation prepared by council staff will form the key tenets of the council’s submission.

Aldermen Damon Thomas and Eva Ruzicka raised concerns that, although the State Government would acquire land to allow the Mount Wellington Cable Car Company to proceed with a development application, the council would still be legally vulnerable.

Ald Thomas said the council could be liable for any injuries on the site and even damage to ratepayers’ prop- erty. “It’s opened up a bevy of legal issues as we will still technically own the land,” Ald Thomas said.

Ald Ruzicka said the legislation “was deficient in a number of places.”

“The council could be open to liability and indemnity claims if it goes through in its current form,” she said.

Ald Ruzicka said the council needed more than “a couple of Facebook pictures” from the Mount Wellington Cable Car Company to feel confident about the project. The report by council staff said a move to allow cable-car proponents to carry out activities on the mountain without council consent was the most concerning part of the enabling legislation.

Hobart City Council general manager Nick Heath said he would like to know more about the plans for the land.

“[I would like to know about] the legitimacy of the company, the impacts on our land,” he said. “I would be interested to know the extent of the land wanting to be used and for what use.”

Ald Jeff Briscoe said the language in the legislation was very “open-ended” and was almost “open-slather” in terms of what projects could occur on Mt Wellington.

The State Government decided to draft legislation to acquire a — still unknown — parcel of land on the mountain after the cable car company was unable to get landowner consent from the council.

Again there was confusion among aldermen about whether the council had actually received a request from the company for the consent. Mr Heath said he recalled receiving a letter but no application.

Ald Thomas said there was an application but it was declared defective.

But Lord Mayor Sue Hickey said the legislation would, at last, give the public its say on the cable car.

“There are indeed little details that need to be clarified,” she said. “But we are belligerent if we are standing in the way. The stalemate is broken and now the public can have a say.”