Hobart alderman calls for the people to have their say on Hobart’s proposed cable car

The chairman of the Hobart City Council’s planning committee wants a voter poll this year on the cable car proposal.

Alderman Jeff Briscoe at a City Planning committee meeting at Hobart Town Hall. Picture: PATRICK GEE

HOBART residents would be able to officially have their say on the proposed cable car on Mt Wellington/kunanyi if a city alderman has his way.

Hobart City Council city planning committee chairman Alderman Jeff Briscoe has submitted a notice of motion HCC calling for an elector poll on the contentious cable car proposal.

The poll would be held in conjunction with local government elections in October in order to minimise costs.

Ald Briscoe said the residents of Hobart deserved to have their say on the $54 million development, which has split public opinion.

A Reachtel poll conducted for the Mercury last July found 47.6 per cent of respondents in Denison backed the idea, with 40.3 per cent opposed to it. Only 2.1 per cent were undecided.

“The mountain is a very special place to many in Hobart,” Ald Briscoe said. “Many assertions about public support or otherwise of the private enterprise proposed cable car have been made. An elector poll is one way to determine the public’s view.”

MORE: MAJORITY OF TASMANIANS SUPPORT CABLE CAR

Ald Briscoe said that while the exact wording of the poll was yet to be determined, it would essentially ask voters: “Do you agree with the proposed cable car, whose route will involve crossing the Organ Pipes of Mt Wellington and with a variety of built structures including a multistorey building on the summit of the mountain as the terminal?”

In order to go ahead, Ald Briscoe’s proposed elector poll would need to be voted on by the full council. The next meeting is on May 7.

MORE: RESIDENTS’ CONCERNS HEIGHTENED AFTER MEETING

Ald Briscoe’s proposal comes after the Mercury revealed on Saturday that under a new model being pursued by project proponent The Mt Wellington Cableway Company, the base terminal could be built at the end of Old Farm Rd in South Hobart — cutting out the need for approval from the Cascade Brewery but heightening concerns held by Old Farm Rd residents, who met with Cableway Company executive director Adrian Bold on Thursday night.