Talking Point: Cable car plans tread lightly on the summit, no popcorn required

CHRIS OLDFIELD: Pinnacle Centre takes up a small proportion of existing footprint at the peak

PLANS: New facility will offer access to everyone, however they arrive at the summit.

PEOPLE expecting a movie theatre on the top of Mt Wellington are going to be sadly disappointed. It is not part of Mount Wellington Cableway Company’s vision for the mountain summit.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for year-round public facilities to get out of the wind and cold, have a cup of coffee or a meal and choose from a variety of cosy, uncrowded and spectacular spaces to take in the Hobart panorama then you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

With an on-ground footprint of 1925sqm, MWCC’s proposed Pinnacle Centre is less than 20 per cent of the existing footprint of infrastructure already built on the summit devoted to outdated facilities, carparks and communications towers (12,345sqm).

The new facility will offer free access for anyone; whether they come by cable car, drive, walk or ride a bike.

When people talk about the size of the proposed Pinnacle Centre they need to be aware that about 40 per cent of the facilities are new public amenities such as toilets, family change rooms, lookouts, heritage interpretation and storytelling, disability-friendly boardwalks and both indoor and outdoor public seating.

What we’re offering is to remove the present Observation Shelter which sticks out like a pimple on the summit and replace it with a new structure that follows the contour of the mountain just below the skyline and blends with the natural colours of the mountain.

It is architecturally designed so windows are set back and shielded from the sun as well as angled to minimise reflections back to the city during the day.

Path and internal lighting will be at floor-level so that lights are not shining directly out of windows in the evening.

One of the major benefits of our $16 million visitor centre is that it will address some of the very real problems on the summit at no cost to Hobart ratepayers or Tasmanian taxpayers.

Many people visiting the mountain at times are dismayed to find queues to toilets that are blocked, and overcrowding on the lookouts and in the very small observation shelter as well as boardwalks that don’t meet disability or safety standards.

While the bulk of visitors are likely to arrive on the cable car, we propose to build a new non-slip elevated and ramped boardwalk to ensure all mountain visitors can enjoy the same experience and access, regardless of age or ability, year-round.

In our construction plan, MWCC intends to maintain safe public access to the current viewing shelter and lookout boardwalks right through the construction phase until our new boardwalk is commissioned.

The rooftop of the new visitor centre will become the new open-air lookouts, with a heated floor and a handrail in winter to mitigate snow accumulation. The rooftop also features large sections of green roof for alpine plant life to grow.

MWCC’s plan also aims to protect the environment by:

REMOVING an estimated 180,000 vehicles from the currently congested and dangerous road each year.

PROVIDING better boardwalks to help keep people off sensitive flora.

PROVIDING on-site waste management with litter staff.

COLLECTING snow-melt and rooftop rainwater to flush toilets rather than using fresh water.

REMOVING sewage from the mountain each night by special tank carried by the cableway.

USING the latest lithium-battery technology to ensure reliable power supply to the centre year-round, without the need for backup diesel generators and on-site diesel storage.

We also propose to provide new services not currently available on the mountain, including a park ranger office, bushwalker registration desk, medical room and firefighting equipment storage.

With or without the cable car, many more people are projected to visit the summit each year.

MWCC is the only organisation with a plan that will holistically cut vehicle traffic, improve public safety and protect the environment.

And what of the cinema concept that has attracted some public comment? Our plans show a portion of our rooftop with tiered seating that is protected from prevailing winds.

On finer days we expect this amphitheatre can be used for group photos, picnics, community events and school excursion activities. So, don’t plan to give up your visits to Village or the State Cinema just yet.

Chris Oldfield is chair of the Mount Wellington Cableway Company, which has lodged a development application for a cable car on Hobart’s Mt Wellington.