Tasmania's Premier has encouraged the company behind a failed proposal to build a cableway to the top of kunanyi/Mount Wellington not to give up on the project.
The Mount Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) this week confirmed it would not appeal against a planning tribunal decision to uphold the Hobart City Council's rejection of the cableway development application.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff met with MWCC executive chairman Chris Oldfield this week and reiterated the Liberal state government's continuing support for the project, also penning a letter to Mr Oldfield.
"My government continues to support a cable car project and in light of your recent advice will look thoroughly at how this may be best achieved," Mr Rockliff wrote.
"Similarly I would encourage the company to consider further design scope and options for its project and would be pleased to receive an update on this in due course."
The Tasmanian government is also holding out the possibility of a future cableway proposal being declared a major project.
That would mean a future development application could bypass council assessment and would instead be considered by a panel appointed by the Planning Tribunal.
"I'm not going to rule that out," Planning Minister Michael Ferguson said on Thursday.
"We're not going to rule things in or out in terms of future possibilities, but the government still wants to see the cable car vision being achieved one day in Tasmania, and of course we'll take advice about whether or not there are ways the state government could help make that happen in a sensible and sustainable way."
The Tasmanian government has been a long-time supporter of the cableway project and in 2017 changed the law to allow access to public land in Wellington Park for the project.
When the Hobart City Council rejected the cable car development application, then-premier Peter Gutwein said the government would not use the major projects legislation to fast-track the proposal.
Cableway proponent considering options
The planning tribunal decision means MWCC cannot lodge a development application for the same or a similar project with the Hobart City Council for at least two years.
Mr Oldfield told ABC Radio Hobart on Friday the company was considering its options.
"We don't have a project at the moment. Our project sadly was rejected," he said.
"We will consider where we will go in the future when we know what government wants to do."
Mr Oldfield said he had not asked the government to declare any future cableway proposal a major project, but a solution to traffic congestion on Pinnacle Road had to be found.
"I think we have convinced the bulk of the population this is the solution to the terrible situation on Mount Wellington now," he said.
"I don't think anyone can support what's going on at the moment."
Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said she wanted to meet with Mr Rockliff to brief him on other options for infrastructure on the mountain.
"This project's had a lot of attention but there's a whole range of other options and probably more significant priorities for mountain infrastructure," Ms Reynolds said.
"It would be great if the Premier could make some time. We could brief him, perhaps take a site visit up there and actually look at what the mountain needs and what would be really high-quality public infrastructure."
