Cableway Company gains approval to drill on Mt Wellington just before state election is called

STATE Growth Minister Peter Gutwein has given Mount Wellington Cableway Company the go ahead to begin drilling and surveying on the pinnacle.

STATE Growth Minister Peter Gutwein has given Mount Wellington Cableway Company the go ahead to begin drilling and surveying on the pinnacle.

A Hobart City Council memo reveals Mr Gutwein, who is also the Treasurer, granted the MWCC authority to enter the site on January 25 — three days before the state election was called and the Government went into caretaker mode.

The move has been harshly criticised by cable car opponents, but Mr Gutwein said there was “nothing sinister” about the process.

“These are minor administrative approvals,” he said.

“These are just the administrative steps to enable the DA (development application) to be formed before it goes to the Hobart City Council and goes through the normal planning process ... I followed the Act.”

Residents Opposed to the Cable Car principal petitioner Ted Cutlan said it was “business as usual” for how the Government approached big projects.

“If it was so normal then why didn’t they make it public, if it was so normal then why the secrecy?” he said.

“This smacks of business as usual in Tasmania and the approach that has been taken throughout the whole process.”

Residents Opposed to the Cable Car principal petitioner Ted Cuthbert, of South Hobart, questions the need for secrecy around the approval. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

Mr Gutwein said because the state election had not been called, other political parties did not need to be told about it.

“This was a decision of the Government, there was no need to inform Labor,” he said.

However, when Premier Will Hodgman was questioned on Tuesday on Mr Gutwein’s move to grant authority for testing on the mountain, he was forced to admit to the ABC he was not aware of the matter and would need to take advice.

Shadow Treasurer Scott Bacon said either the Premier was lying about his knowledge of the approval or there had been a “massive breakdown” between the two most senior ministers in the Liberal Government.

“For Will Hodgman to say he was ‘not aware’ defies belief,” Mr Bacon said.

“Either Will Hodgman knew and he lied or there’s a massive breakdown at the top of the Liberal Government.”

Greens Leader Cassy O’Connor said to approve drilling at the pinnacle as part of a “highly controversial” project three days before an election was called was a “disgrace”.

“It’s an appalling breach of public faith and trust, but I don’t think Tasmanians will be surprised,” she said.

Mr Gutwein outlined the scope of the authority given to the MWCC in a letter to Hobart Lord Mayor Sue Hickey, who is running for the Liberal Party in Denison, before she took a leave of absence from the role.

The Mercury received a copy of a memo on Tuesday that was sent to the acting Lord Mayor Ron Christie and aldermen from Hobart City Council Director of Parks and Amenity Glenn Doyle.

In it was a copy of the letter sent to Ald Hickey and an authority for the MWCC to enter land on kunanyi/Mount Wellington.

The authority allows MWCC to begin surveying flora and fauna, drill bore holes, transport infrastructure by helicopter, construct scaffolding on site and operate a drone for two years.

From left, Premier Will Hodgman, Mt Wellington Cableway Company chairwoman Jude Franks, cable car proponent Adrian Bold, and then state growth minister Matthew Groom at the pinnacle last February. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

The go-ahead comes despite the council previously raising concerns that Hobart’s water supply could be threatened by geotechnical testing on the mountain.

The concerns were outlined in a submission in response to laws introduced by the Government giving it power to seize land on the mountain to speed up the project.

A site plan accompanying the memo and Mr Gutwein’s letter reveals some of the “proposed activities” are next to the water catchment zone.

MWCC chairwoman Jude Franks said the work was to give the community confidence the pinnacle terminal could be built in “a way that respects the skyline of the mountain”.

“MWCC applied for Ministerial Consent on 26th September 2017, in accordance with the successful passage of the Cable Car Facilitation Bill 2017 through both Houses of Parliament,” she said.

“Having received consent, we can now seek to verify important design issues fundamental to our ethos, to ensure and give the community the confidence the pinnacle terminal can be built in a way that respects the skyline of the mountain.”