Mt Wellington Cable Car

03/12/2024

20 hours left!
If you've already filled in the survey, Thank You. 😍
If you've encouraged friends and family to as well, Extra Thank You. 🥰.. Now to really express why you believe our solution offers the most sustainable and balanced future for the Mountain, you're invited to make a written submission - it's as easy as commenting on social media or sending an email. Hop to it!

The Department of State Growth invites the public to write in and have their say on the future of kunanyi/Mount Wellington and the broader Wellington Park

02/12/2024

With less than 48 hours left to have your say in the Mountain Review, we'd like to hear what drives you to embrace change for the better! Is it..The woeful lookouts? ..The traffic congestion after snow? ..Not enough parking spaces? ..Fear that council will close the road for good? or..The poor outcomes from an unbalanced planning process, that allow 12km of shiny road barriers (visible from Brighton!) installed without any scrutiny, whilst our proposal would have to invent invisible cladding and levitation to be approved? 🙄

Our last few posts have peeled back some layers on our 4 core objectives to improve the status quo; namely:

1) Environmental Sustainability:
✅ Reducing environmental impact,
✅ Adoption of carbon-zero technologies,
✅ Prioritise Environmental education,
✅ Protection of flora and fauna,

2) Social Responsibility + Inclusion:
✅ Ensure accessibility through inclusive-first design,
✅ Enhance visitor experience,
✅ 'Class in the Clouds' program,
✅ Community Fund for grants and programs,

3) Cultural Preservation + Enhancement:
✅ Respect for cultural heritage,
✅ Promote cultural awareness,

4) Economic Viability + Contribution:
✅ Provide an economic boost to Park resources and rangers,
✅ Attract sustainable-travellers to Tasmania,
✅ Create long-term economic benefits,
✅ Reinvest into land care initiatives and skills training,

Lofty? Yes. Achievable? Absolutely, and we have both the costed and engineered plan to deliver it. But it's critical that the Government hears your support and ideas for change, so they can act and facilitate a holistic solution. ♻️

Thank you all in advance for supporting us, by completing the State Government's Mountain Review survey. If you found their text box areas too short to really express yourself, you are allowed to also send them an email. All info and links are on our webpage here: www.mwcablecar.com/takeaction

Hurry! Your change to make your support count ends this Wednesday!

Hobart Cable Car Supporters

30/11/2024

Rainy Weekend? With less than 4 days to lodge a submission to the Mountain Review, now is a great time to think about jobs for Tassie’s next generation.

Our construction phase alone will support 200 jobs and create new speciality skills for maintenance in the engineering sector. 👷🏼‍♀️👷👩‍🏭👨‍🏭

Once built, Meaningful and personable jobs that deliver high-quality visitor experiences in ecotourism are not only immune to AI and robotics, they are sustainable. Our solution for the mountain will offer over new 80 Jobs for Tasmanians, with career pathways into a global industry. 🧑‍🍳👩‍🎨🧑‍🏫👰‍♀️👨‍💻🧑‍🔧

Jobs that you, your siblings, your children, nieces and nephews and grandchildren may have which gives them reason to stay and raise families in Tasmania.

MWCC will also employ a range of other specialists, such as:
👩‍🌾🌿 Full time ecologist and botanists to tend to the alpine rooftop lookout gardens,
👩‍⚕️⛑️ A first aid nurse to be stationed at the summit,
🧑‍🏫🏔️ A teacher to run our ‘Class in the Clouds’ alpine school excursion program, and
🦸‍♀️🎷 A functions team to coordinate the many requests for community events and birthday soirées.

No one disagrees that the mountain is a wonderful natural asset for Tasmania. Given it costs so much to maintain each year, is it not time for the mountain to provide the Jobs Tasmanians need to sustain that our economy, and a way to fund park care?

As the rain sets in, now’s a great time to have a chat to your family and friends, and ask them what our solution could mean for them. 🤔 Encourage them to visit www.mwcablecar.com/takeaction, to help secure a sustainable future all Tasmanians can be proud of.

For the Mountain. 🏔️🚠💚

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Tasmanian Hospitality Association
Eric Abetz
Felix Ellis MP
Simon Behrakis
Jeremy Rockliff

28/11/2024

📣 With just 6 days left to lodge a submission to the Mountain Review, here's another key way to achieve a sustainable future:

✏️📐A cleverly designed, visually benign and inclusive visitor centre at the pinnacle, with 24/7 rooftop lookouts, sheltered seating and community space, that is fully-accessible by everyone year round. Can you see it in this photomontage looking from the existing shelter? ( the full benefits are at mwcablecar.com/benefits )

So why wasn't this approved?

When the current planning scheme for the mountain was put to the test by law, MAJOR contradictions were revealed. ... Whilst on one hand the scheme encourages new developments to replace existing amenities that aren't fit for purpose (ie the existing boardwalks, the toilet block and the observation shelter), the scheme was also found to prohibit any new structure - because nothing new would be allowed to touch the ground!!

Have you ever heard of a building that doesn't have any foundations? Or a building that can defy gravity, but also not take up any air space, to avoid visual impact? Or how about invisible timber and rock?

Neither have we. It's impossible, yet this is why our Proposal was rejected.

You can spell out how the status quo at the pinnacle (and the poorly written planning scheme!) is failing the mountain in your submission before close on Tuesday.

🔔💬 For a balanced and sustainable future we can all be proud of, visit mwcablecar.com/takeaction now. If you've already submitted, send/share this important post with your family and friends to digest over the weekend.

For the Mountain.

Simon Behrakis
Felix Ellis MP
Eric Abetz
Jeremy Rockliff

Make your support count by completing the State Government's Mountain Review survey by December 4.

27/11/2024

📣 With just 7 days left to lodge a submission to the Mountain Review, here's one of the best reasons why our solution is critical for the mountain's long term sustainable future:

All-weather, all electric, year-round effortless transport access for the summit.

🛻🚗🚙🚌🚐 Did you know that now over 2000+ tonnes of carbon* is released into the atmosphere each year, just to move people along a dead-end road? (That's 2000 of the orange spheres in the photo!) If every visitor drove to our Base Station instead of the Pinnacle, that would save 1,920 tonnes. Each year.

⛽️💸 Did you know that Tasmanians are currently spending $1.8 million dollars* in foreign-owned and imported fuel each year just to visit the summit? None of that money goes to maintaining the Park. In contrast, our solution uses clean hydroelectricity, produced right here in Tasmania, and each ticket can help fund the Park into the future.

❄️ Did you know Pinnacle Road is closed ahead of potential snowfall? It often takes DAYS to clear the road to the summit, and the council-subsidised bus service is given monopolised access 'beyond locked gate', often days before its reopened to the general public. By that time, the soft snow is gone, and only hard ice is left. Our solution effortlessly moves people to and from the summit regardless of road condition or other closures, even during snowfall. By offering a choice, we expect up to 60% less traffic on the mountain. No congestion, tollbooth or need to widen the road.

🚠🦽✏️ Did you know we've custom-designed the cable car in Switzerland to be fully accessible for all ages and abilities, and can safely handle school excursion groups? During major events such as the Point to Pinnacle, we can effortlessly lift spectators to the finish line and safely and efficiently bring participants back too. That's because the cable car provides alternate access without consuming, replacing or monopolising the road.

♻️💧⚡️Did you know, when a descending cable car is heavier than the ascending one, (towards the end of each day when visitors are leaving from the summit), the system actually generates electricity? We intend to capture this energy in batteries and reuse it the next morning. No other feasible transport mode is as energy efficient.

🔔💬 Make sure you implore the Tasmanian Government to find a way to achieve these positive outcomes, for a balanced and sustainable future we can all be proud of.
Visit and share mwcablecar.com/takeaction to get started.

For the Mountain.

*Federal Chamber Automotive Industry (FCAI), assumes 2022 aged fleet, light vehicle class only, no passengers, 32km differential. 2024 traffic count data. Current Unleaded fuel prices used, Hobart, November 2024)
Photo: A measured carbon bubble installed in Trafalgar Square, London, ahead of COP26. Credit: Sipa US

24/11/2024

Grab a glass of your favourite and invest the next 10 minutes to help ensure a sustainable future for the Mountain.

To make your support for the cable car count, here’s a few helpful tips to speed up your survey response:

For the first time ever in the history of this project since 1905, our planning application was advertised for public representations. This occured over a double length of statutory time between Monday 24 May and Tuesday 22 June 2021. All formal representations will be considered as part of the ass....

20/11/2024

MOUNTAIN TRAFFIC SURGED 85PC IN DECADE
From today’s Mercury:

The number of vehicles travelling up kunanyi/Mt Wellington has skyrocketed by 85 per cent over the past decade and seven of the busiest days on record were in the last financial year, new analysis shows.

The revelation comes as the state government reviews the management of the mountain, which the Greens have claimed is a stalking horse for the resurrection of the failed cable car proposal.

The Hobart City Council began collecting road traffic data from lower Pinnacle Rd in 2014 and the Wellington Park Management Trust started analysing the information this year.

According to the trust’s 2023-24 annual report, released on Tuesday, vehicle numbers on the mountain have experienced year on year growth between 1-21 per cent since 2014 (with the exception of 2020, due to the pandemic).

“The trust is now able to generate consistent and regular reports on the number of vehicles entering the park via Pinnacle Rd, which gives a strong indication of overall visitation patterns and trends,” the report said.

In terms of individual vehicle movements, 137,400 drove up the mountain in 2014, before increasing sig­nificantly to 213,118 in 2019, before Covid.

While just 109,651 vehicles took to the mountain in 2020, the numbers began to shoot up in the subsequent years, hitting 173,772 in 2021, 210,187 in 2022, and 221,752 in 2023.

The trust extrapolated data for June 2024 to obtain an ­annual figure of 254,125 vehicles for this year.

Weekends and public holidays have up to double the traffic experienced on weekdays, while the highest daily traffic counts frequently correspond with natural events, such as heavy snowfall or ­aurora australis.

The aurora event on the evening of May 11 this year had an “unprecedented peak” in overnight traffic on Pinnacle Rd, making it the eighth-busiest day since records began.

The most hectic day on record was on September 26, 2021, after heavy snowfall.

The busiest 24-hour period in the 2023-24 financial year was January 5, when 1512 vehicles went up the mountain.

The trust said the majority of vehicles using Pinnacle Rd were exceeding the 50km/h speed limit in both directions, but “even more so” in the southbound lane.

https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/wellington-park-management-trust-annual-report-reveals-mountain-vehicle-numbers/news-story/baf2fb2900ba95d4f65677170e0a8789

14/11/2024

Good luck to all Point to Pinnacle participants this Sunday! 🏃‍♀️‍➡️🏃‍➡️🏃‍♂️‍➡️ 👍 We hope you enjoy the popup whisky bar this year too, thanks to Overeem Whisky

With Pinnacle Rd closed from Saturday night through to midday Sunday, we look forward to the day we can offer our rapid, 100% electric, exciting and effortlessly inclusive transport solution for spectators, participants and all other visitors during and after this fantastic event 🤩 …Tassie whisky bar included 🥃

Time to celebrate a new entry record for the Point to Pinnacle 🥳🤩 Today we passed our previous best of 4349 entries. Well done to everyone who is already registered. Entries are still flowing in and with 2 and a half weeks to go, 5000 participants is looking more of a chance by the day. Don't forget our standard entry pricing ends tonight at midnight and then our late entry period begins. We have also now passed $400,000 in fundraising which is an incredible start to this years campaign. Keep up the great work everyone, what an impact the P2P will have in so many ways this year👩‍🦯🚶‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ Elders Hobart Elders Launceston Elders East Coast Tasmania Brooks Running Wrest Point Hobart The Running Edge Steigen Oakley GU Energy Australia Hartz Tasmania Gatorade Australia Cascade Brewery Co Clennett's Mitre 10 Hill Street Grocer BioPak Budget Car Rental Collins SBA AllCare Physiotherapy All Aerobics Fitness Nightly News 7 Tasmania Triple M Hobart The Mercury Newspaper Tasmanian Road Runners Knockoffs Run Club Mobart Mo Bros Movember Australia Carrie's Beanies 4 Brain Cancer Foundation Tasmania.com Tasmanian Discover Tasmania City of Hobart Metro Tasmania St John Ambulance - Tasmania Tasmania SES Tasmania Police Events Tas Kingston Beach Surf Life Saving Club O-H-A Hockey Club Hobart Phoenix Basketball Association

11/11/2024

That’s 625,000 park visitors using HCC’s vague vehicle headcount assumption, or 825,000 using our actual on site headcount observation data.
…Well beyond the ‘500,000’ being reported since 2018.

By the end of the year, over a quarter of a million vehicles are expected to have made the journey to the summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington in the last 12 months.

In its annual report, the Wellington Park Trust said people are particularly keen on visiting the summit during “heavy snowfall” or “aurora activity” and on significant holidays, with traffic increasing year on year.

But this can prove difficult over Winter, with the City of Hobart regularly closing the road when snow or ice is forecast to impact the mountain.

The state government is currently undertaking a review of the mountain to determine how it is best suited to serve the wider Tasmanian community in the future, including looking at new transport options.

29/10/2024

MWCC strongly support the Mountain Review.
With the government’s discussion paper now released and survey open for public submissions, (see link below) MWCC encourages each and every one of our supporters to participate. Your views can ensure the much needed structural change is embraced and actioned for our mountain’s future.

If you would like to understand our position to be better informed before making your own submission, we expect to release our perspective next week.


Destination Southern Tasmania
Tasmanian Hospitality Association
Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Tourism Industry Council Tasmania
Discover Tasmania
Hobart & Beyond
East Coast Tasmania
Visit North West Tasmania
Hobart Cable Car Supporters

The Tasmanian Government is developing a long-term vision for kunanyi/Mount Wellington and the broader Wellington Park through a strategic review. Have your say on Our Mountain's future.

18/10/2024

Very ‘cool’ ❄️ scenes from Italy, just showing how our systems work in extreme weather.
🌟Did you know? Mwcc’s design includes an in-slab and handrail hydronic heating system for the rooftop viewing platforms, as well as careful placement and design of balustrading for a new public boardwalk to the summit, to avoid snow-buildup in the outdoor spaces as mentioned below.

10/09/2024

Back in 1956, nine military spotlights were installed to light up the Organ Pipes.

A photo found in a tip shop has got a few people wondering what was going on in Hobart in the 1950s.

05/08/2024

The terms of reference for the mountain review is out, have a listen to this interview on ABC Hobart radio:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-mornings/will-review-of-kunanyi-pave-the-way-for-development/104183292?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared

03/07/2024

The City of Hobart has closed the road to the top of kunanyi/Mount Wellington on and off this week due to 'deadly' conditions, while the Tasmanian Government has today confirmed they believe a cable car is a “sustainable transport solution” needed for the mountain.

The government say a 'significant review' underway into the mountain will consider access and infrastructure options like a cable car and whether to take control of kunanyi away from council.

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds has previously called on the government to invest more in mountain facilities, but remains against plans for an ‘unlawful’ privately-funded cable car.

30/06/2024

Q: What is the #1 rated tourism experience in Australia, and #2 in the entire South Pacific?
A: Cable Cars in a geologically significant place showcasing epic scenic vistas, that educate and sustainably manage visitors. Congratulations to our friends at Scenic World Blue Mountains and their tour partners!

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Destination Southern Tasmania Discover Tasmania Tasmanian Hospitality Association Wellington Park Tasmania Eric Abetz Tasmanian Tourism Awards Felix Ellis MP Simon Behrakis Hobart Cable Car Supporters www.mwcablecar.com

We're thrilled to have been rated as part of the #1 experience by Tripadvisor in all of Australia.

Congratulations to our amazing partner 's Tours too!

https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo-cTopExperiences-g255055

https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo-cTopExperiences-g8

https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo-cTopExperiences-g255055

The Travelers' Choice Awards Best of the Best title celebrates the highest level of excellence in travel. It's awarded to those who receive a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the Tripadvisor community over a 12-month period. Out of our 8 million listings, fewer than 1% achieve this milestone!

25/06/2024

The view above the clouds is 💯 better in a silent 🚠