The Tasmanian Liberals, with the support of the Labor Party, passed legislation through the lower house of the State Parliament on 16 October to remove the veto that the Wellington Park Management Trust has, but has never used, over development proposals for Mt Wellington. The Legislative Council has also now passed this bill. We congratulate Rob Valentine as the only Legislative Councillor to vote against removing the veto.
The potential use of this veto caused developers to check with the Trust to see if their proposal is likely to comply with the management plan and relevant planning scheme. Developments have been improved through discussions between the proponent and the Trust and subsequently approved – most famously the Springs development. Removing this pre-assessment stage would just mean that any major problem with developments would be picked up later in the planning process, causing much higher costs and longer hold-ups, including possible planning appeals.
Developers are less likely to want to change plans later in the assessment process, and this will result in much bigger conflict and is likely to strengthen the opposition’s determination to kill off a development. Whichever way you look at it, sorting out problems with developments earlier just makes sense.
Given that Elise Archer and Matthew Groom are both members for the seat of Denison, which covers the pinnacle and eastern face of Mt Wellington, the voters of Denison especially deserve to know if they intend providing further assistance for a cable car. For example, will the Liberal Party rule out closing the Pinnacle Road to the public as a means of making the cable car financially viable?
Peter McGlone
Director