PIPE DREAM

REVEALED Heritage listing could hit cable car

A PUSH to have the Organ Pipes on kunanyi/Mt Wellington put on the National Heritage List may add further roadblocks to the proposal for a cable car.

Alderman Jeff Briscoe and Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds will present their joint motion at a parks and recreation committee meeting tonight, calling on the Hobart City Council to prepare a report on the merits of seeking national heritage listing for the Organ Pipes.

Residents Opposed to the Cable Car spokesman Ted Cutlan said it was a great idea to add further protection to the mountain.

“If that protection helps stop the cable car from defacing the front of the mountain then that is wonderful thing,” he said.

Ald Briscoe said if the Organ Pipes were put on the National Heritage List it would offer another layer of protection for the mountain and enhance its reputation as a heritage destination.

“Part of my justification for this is in the Wellington Park Management Plan and it actually supports seeking the national heritage listing,” Ald Briscoe said.

“It would give the Organ Pipes a national level of protection, which is what we haven’t got at the moment.

“I think this would have widespread community support.

“Once a [cable car] planning application is before us it will be about the planning law at the time,” he said.

“So a National Heritage listing may not be enforced when that application comes in.”

The listing would allow the council to access federal funding, which Ald Briscoe said could be used for track enhancements, signage, weed management and better promotion of the mountain to the world.

There are 13 places across Tasmania on the National Heritage List including the Port Arthur Historic Site and Macquarie Island. The National Heritage List is a list of pla- ces with outstanding natural, indigenous or historic heritage value to the nation.

Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie supports the push to nominate the Organ Pipes for the list.

“Hobart’s sense of place is defined by the mountain and the river and we need to do whatever we can to protect them. The Organ Pipes in particular are a striking part of that,” he said.