A majority of Tasmanians support cable car: exclusive poll

A MAJORITY of Tasmanians support a cable car to kunanyi/Mt Wellington, exclusive polling reveals.

Jude Franks and Adrian Bold from MWCC welcomed the poll results. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

A  MAJORITY of Tasmanians support a cable car to kunanyi/Mt Wellington, exclusive polling reveals.

But there is still a large amount of uncertainty surrounding the project.

In a ReachTEL poll of 2817 Tasmanians commissioned by the Mercury, 54.1 per cent of people answered “yes” to the question, “Do you support a cable car to Mount Wellington?”

“No” was given by 30.6 per cent of respondents, while 15.4 per cent were “undecided”.

Cable car proponent Adrian Bold said the Mount Wellington Cable Car Company welcomed the poll result.

“Once we are able to actually show people what our plans and designs are, especially for the building, we would like to think the support will be even greater,” Mr Bold said.

“The previous surveys and polls have always given us a majority when it comes to support and about 15 to 20 per cent undecided.

“So, we welcome the majority support and are looking forward to showing the design of the building once we are in a position to do so.”

Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the MWCC should be confident of its support increasing once more information about the project was disclosed.

“There’s a lot of people who don’t support it or are undecided who just want more information,” Mr Martin said.

“There’s a lot of questions they want answered such as, ‘what will it cost, what will be the environmental impact, how will it look on the skyline?

“So, I would be confident if I was behind the cable car that as more information comes out the support will grow.”

A total of 58 per cent of men supported the cable car, while 50.3 per cent of women also said yes.

The 35 to 50-year-old bracket was the biggest supporters of the project, with 59.6 per cent surveyed saying yes, and the 18 to 34-year-old age group was narrowly behind with 57.7 per cent. But they were also the most undecided, on 16 per cent. Over 65s were the most opposed to the cable car, with 35 per cent saying they did not support it.

Bass had the biggest support of the project out of the electorates, with 60.9 per cent, while Denison — where kunanyi/Mt Wellington resides — had the biggest opposition, with 40.3 per cent against a cable car.

Liberal voters were the most supportive of the cable car when it came to political allegiances with 67.9 per cent saying yes, while 57.4 per cent of those who leant towards the Greens did not support it.

Originally published as A majority of Tasmanians support cable car: exclusive poll