Company spruiks eco benefits of cable car

THE project manager behind the controversial cable car project says Hobart’s environmental reputation will be enhanced if the proposal is given the green light.

But Residents Opposed to the Cable Car spokesman Ted Cutlan says dumping a building the size of a Woolworths supermarket atop the mountain is an environmental disaster.

Mount Wellington Cableway Company project manager Mike Mahoney has arrived in Hobart to help finalise details before a development application is submitted before the council.

Mr Mahoney was project manager, and general manager for the first two years, for the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway in Cairns, Queensland, which was built in 1995 at a cost of $35 million.

Skyrail passes through the Barron Gorge National Park and the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

An adult ticket on the Sky- rail costs $79 and a family pass is $197.50.

Mr Mahoney said he appreciated the community’s concerns about the Hobart cable car proposal.

“The reason I specialise in building in sensitive environments is because I like protecting those environments,” he said.

“When you are building in a sensitive area, naturally there are people who have concerns.”

Mr Mahoney said he was convinced the Mount Wellington proposal would be a winner for both the environment and tourism.

“My experience is that some of the opposition is concern of the unknown, but once they start operating people realise they are good for the environment and tourism, as well as providing easy access to the mountain experience, even for people who are aged or infirm,” he said.

But Mr Cutlan said any comparison between the Cairns project and what was being proposed for Hobart was “ludicrous”.

“I’ve been on the Skyrail in Cairns and anyone that draws comparison between the two is fooling themselves,” he said.

“The building proposed for the top of Mt Wellington is the size of a Woolworths supermarket.

“What are we prepared, as a society, to give up in search of this tourism dollar?”

Mr Mahoney also quashed concerns Pinnacle Rd would be closed at some stage to further the commercial viability of the cable car.

“The (Pinnacle) road is an advantage to us,” he said.