Coroner & Legal
Trust’s ‘disgraceful amendment’. Keep the mountain as is, says Don Knowler …
*Pic: Under threat? The Organ Pipes on Mt Wellington …
The Wellington Park Management Trust (WPMT) has approved the amendment to the Pinnacle Specific Area of Mt Wellington.
They chose to announce this on Melbourne Cup day in a cynical attempt to hide what can only be described as an atrocious decision.
“This is typical of the Trust and the responsible minister Matthew Groom.
The Governor has already signed off the amendment and an announcement is made at 5.00pm on Melbourne Cup day.
“It is simply disgraceful!” said Ted Cutlan, spokesperson for ROCC Tasmania.
“The process was initiated at the request of the Mount Wellington Cableway Company.”
“The Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) held public hearings and they were damning in their review of the process undertaken by the WPMT.
“The Hobart City Council as landowners vehemently opposed the amendment during the TPC hearings with their legal counsel declaring the amendment a ‘failure of planning 101’, he said.
“A more cynical person could also think that the government has used the cable car and its proponent as a ‘Trojan horse’ to get these changes made.
“The cable car will probably never be built because it is never going to be economically viable, but all sorts of other ugly developments could now be allowed directly above the organ pipes.”
There have been many calls for proper process to be followed with regard to this process. The Trust has comprehensively failed to do this.
Their failure to follow proper process and the Act is outlined in more detail in the attached letter from Mr Adam Beeson. (Legal counsel representing ROCC at the TPC hearings) …
• Download lawyer’s advice to ROCC …
150706_Letter_to_WPM_Trust-2.pdf
SEPTEMBER 2012 … Keep the mountain as is, says Don Knowler …
• Don Knowler: The Man on the Mountain On his way to work each day Donald Knowler would look up at a silent, majestic Mount Wellington and want to be there. Now free of the stresses and strains of work he walks the mountain most days, and revels in her untamed beauty. Here he adds his voice who those who want to keep “mother mountain” in her natural state. Geoff Law’s comment HERE: A very beautiful piece of writing, Don. It encapsulates all the positive reasons for keeping the mountain wild without having to enumerate all the practical reasons not to have a cable car.
• Cassy O’Connor: ‘Open For Business’ Ensures Cable Car Proponent’s Easy Ride The gazettal today of a boundary extension to the development zone on kunanyi/Mt Wellington is proof that ‘open for business’ means private developers can be assured they will be given ready access to public assets under this Liberal Government.
• Rob Walls in Comments: They’re back! The mountain merry-go-round, circus ride, crowd. Adrian Bold and “I let someone use my computer to post comments”. Bob Palendrome? Hmmm! This time so full of idealism that just like a mining company, they promise they’ll rehabilitate the landscape if the project fails. An earlier comment mentioned flying pigs. Don’t look up. That’s not a cable car, it’s the porcine air force. Luckily, banks are pretty good at assessing financial risk. So it won’t happen.