Cable Car: Council Vote to do Nothing

Business as usual:

Aldermen last night voted 5-5 – meaning a no vote – on a motion outlining what the criteria the developer needed to meet, for example, cost estimates, plans, associated infrastructure and preliminary environment and social impact assessments. 

The information would be the minimum needed before the council granted “owner consent’’ for any development on the land.

This was to be the next step for Adrian Bold, however it looks like he'll need to provide a development application after all:

Ald Ruzicka foreshadowed an alternative motion that later won six votes to four – to take no action and consider a development application as it would for any other project. 

She said the council had no power to consider any development not consistent with the Wellington Park Management Plan.

Bold may be running into difficulty, however:

Monitoring of the Mt Wellington Cableway Company’s (MWCC) social media sites by ROCC over the past five days found that statements it has secured ‘300% of the financing’[1] for the proposed project as well as ‘written landowner consent from the Cascade Brewery’ have now been removed from its site.[2]

 What did that editorial say again?

Questions are now being asked about the financial backing for the Mt Wellington cable car project — version two.

In the past many of the mooted multi-million developments that have promised to be a magic bullet for the state’s ailing economy have been supported and promoted by governments for political reasons — bread and circuses built on hot air that create the impression of activity.

Update 28/05/2014 - the next day: Glenorchy City Council wades in again. The move may look good for GCC but it isn't particularly significant. It doesn't have to actually do anything and the current preferred route is from Cascade Brewery in Hobart. Also, GCC have no say whatsoever about the pinnacle zone.