BIG TASK AHEAD ON CABLE CAR

PROPONENTS of a cable car development for kunanyi/ Mt Wellington have a big task. A panel that considered the development application to Hobart City Council has found 21 grounds for refusal.

Among concerns, the lack of a geotechnical land instability report is worrying. This must be addressed without delay.

The Mount Wellington Cableway Company has plenty of homework to do if it wants this project to proceed.

Issues raised include the effects on tourism, cultural and landscape values, swift parrot habitat, noise and impact on the Organ Pipes.

Has any developer ever had to stare down such a passionate public?

In recent years, only the Gunns pulp mill is in the same league – and that drew tens of thousands of Tasmanians to the streets.

The 12 elected members of Hobart City Council are scheduled to vote on Tuesday. We can probably guess the votes of more than half the council.

To complicate the issue, council members, unlike state and federal MPs, are expected to stick to planning rules when they vote.

At the same time, their constituents want them to take on board their passionate views, for and against the cable car.

Among considerations is the possibility that a rejection – or approval – might leave the project in the courts.

Pressure on councillors must be immense, with a record number of people making their views known.

But people elect councillors to make decisions. Ratepayers and indeed all Tasmanians expect them to consider every element of the assessment.

Mount Wellington Cableway Company chair Chris Oldfield said the company needed time to review the report and would make its own submission on Tuesday.

“We will go away and read the report and talk to our advisers, we’ll consider what’s been advised.”

Residents Opposed to the Cable Car spokesman Vica Bayley said ratepayers had footed the bill for an independent review and councillors should accept the result.

Video of the council meeting will be livestreamed and no doubt the livestream at Mathers House will be at capacity. Amid Covid-19 worries, it might be wise to watch from home.

Whatever the result, now is the time to consider the future of development and transport on the mountain.

Once the worst of the pandemic is behind us, the landscape and the road will be under pressure.

The mountain is a beloved and defining feature of Hobart and Tasmania. Passions will be running high. As well as treating the mountain with care, we should respect each others’ views about it in the weeks ahead.