By Megan Gorrey
A cable car proposed to ferry visitors from the Mosman waterfront to Taronga Zoo would reach higher than 35 metres, eliciting uproar from residents who say it would be a blight on the harbour foreshore.
The Taronga Conservation Society wants to build a new “Sky Safari” tourist attraction to replace the north Sydney zoo’s original cable car, which was built in 1987, upgraded in 2000 and retired last year.
An artist’s impression of the lower station for Taronga Zoo’s proposed Sky Safari cable car.Credit:
The $77 million overhaul would include construction of two new stations connected by six pylons that stand up to 36.5 metres. The system would include 20 to 25 cable cars and follow the existing route.
Citing the popularity of the “much-loved” original Sky Safari, which transported 20 million visitors, the zoo said the replacement structure would make the steep headland site more easily accessible.
But Mosman Parks and Bushland Association member Bob Clark said the taller pylons would create “an imposing scar on this important harbour foreshore area”.
“It’s not just the poles; you’ll have the gondolas whizzing around in circles. It will have a significant adverse impact in terms of visual amenity.”
Mosman Mayor Ann Marie Kimber said the council had “generally supported” the proposal, which would be decided by Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully.
Kimber said residents had worried about the proposal’s scale and noise, as well as construction disturbance.
“We’ve asked for ongoing communication with affected residents and the council, and for no advertising on the outside of the gondolas as there were concerns about the visual impact.”
The cable car would transport visitors from the ferry stop to the main entrance.Credit: Janie Barrett
The proposal submitted to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure said that while the Sky Safari would be “a new prominent feature” of the view towards Bradleys Head from the harbour, the sight would “reinforce the identity and location” of the zoo.
“The impact is considered to constitute a moderate change over a restricted area that is ongoing but capable of being reversed.”
It would provide “family-focused sightseeing tourism infrastructure” with “no unreasonable impacts … in terms of views, traffic, acoustic impacts during construction and ongoing operation”.
The pylons would sit above the tree canopy.Credit: Studio SC
A Taronga Zoo Sydney spokeswoman said the upgraded cabins would fit 10 people – compared with the original system’s six – and had flip-back seats to accommodate larger wheelchairs and prams.
“The larger cabins and easier connection to public transport means guests who have previously found it challenging to navigate the zoo will be able to do so with greater ease,” she said.
The spokeswoman said the gondolas required bigger clearance zones around and below the cabins. The proposed height of the pylons “reflects Taronga’s commitment to preserve the current tree canopy, including avoiding the need to cut through heritage-listed hoop pines”.
“This also allows for canopy growth across the coming decades.”
Clark believed the chief reason for the steep rise in the pylon height towards the top of the hill was “to get those harbour views across to North Head and South Head”.
“There can be no other reason. It’s exploiting the harbour when they don’t need to.”
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