Mt Wellington Cable Car Company's development application accepted by Hobart City Council
Official plans to install a cable car, cafe and tourist precinct at the summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington has been formally accepted by Hobart City Council. WHAT IT MEANS >>
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- Tribunal hands down decision for cable car, calls for more evidence on Aboriginal heritage
- Decision due on Mount Wellington Cableway Company appeal against providing more detail on Aboriginal heritage impacts
Official plans to install a cable car, cafe and tourist precinct at the summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington has been formally accepted by Hobart City Council.
The Mt Wellington Cable Car Company lodged a development application with the council in June 2019 and this week ticked all the boxes in response to council's request for information.
A MWCC spokesman said the company last night received advice that council had accepted the DA as a complete document.
The Hobart City Council will now package the DA documents and advertise it, opening it up for public consultation.
The MWCC expects there to be a planning committee hearing in late June.
Cable car proponents launch Supreme Court appeal
March 30, 2021:
THE proponents of the Mt Wellington cable car have lodged a Supreme Court appeal of the state’s planning tribunal decision about the company’s Aboriginal heritage assessment requirements.
Last month, the Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal ruled Hobart City Council’s demands for more information about the project’s impact on Aboriginal heritage were lawful and reasonable.
The Mt Wellington Cable Car Company lodged a development application with the council in June 2019 with a statement that there were “no Aboriginal heritage sites within proximity to the Base Station or tower locations”.
Council asked for a copy of the desktop assessment, which included the statement in June 2019, and it was provided in January 2020. But it included an important qualification, that while there were no known sites as nobody had checked.
The company took the council to RMPAT, saying it had already provided a sufficient response; the council’s request was invalid; and too late.
Tribunal chair Marica Duvnjak said the additional information requested by the council remained outstanding and directed it to be provided.
In court documents lodged on March 22 and seen by the Mercury, the MWCC has appealed that decision, stating the tribunal erred in law on four grounds.
The appeal seeks the court to set aside the tribunal’s decision and have the matter reheard.
The appeal will first be heard in the Supreme Court in Hobart on April 26.
MWCC chairman Chris Oldfield said the company still wanted to get the on site Aboriginal surveys done and was “trying to contract that work to an appropriately qualified Aboriginal heritage officer.”
“By lodging the appeal, we still have plenty of time to work this out, but if we can’t then we are in a position to proceed with the appeal,” he said.
“We never wanted to do this through a legal process – we wanted to do it through engagement. We are willing to consult, but the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre has put a precondition on discussions with us, which is that whilst we are committed to the project, they see no point in having discussions with us.
“I kind of understand that position, but it makes it very hard as the planning process says we have to consult.”
Residents Opposed to the Cable Car spokesman Vica Bayley said the company was “wasting more time and money in court action instead of getting on with the required assessment.”
“Resorting to court action to minimise assessment of the cable car’s impact on kunanyi’s Aboriginal heritage is a step backwards when it comes to earning a social license,” he said.
HCC general manager Nick Heath said the council “respected the right of the cable car company to appeal the tribunal’s decision.”
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