Federal funding sought for proposed Cradle Mountain cableway
A budget estimates committee of the Tasmanian parliament was advised on 25 September 2024 that the state has committed $30 million to the cost of the proposed Cradle Mountain cableway and wants the federal government to provide the balance of the estimated $190 million total cost.
The Tasmanian National Parks Association (TNPA) opposes this proposal on the grounds that it is not only unnecessary and very expensive but also will adversely affect the natural and cultural values of the Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park (part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area).
The Cradle Mountain cableway was first proposed in the 2016 Cradle Master Plan, which is better described as an ambit claim from the tourism industry than a serious planning exercise. It appears that the cableway was included primarily to grab media attention; a reasoned justification for it has never been provided.
In the discussion of transport options in the 2016 Cradle Master Plan the cableway was presented as a gimmick to attract additional visitors. A survey of (mostly) potential visitors, many of whom could not have an informed opinion because they had never actually visited Cradle Mountain (see pages 31-32), was presented as evidence of demand for a cableway. The Master Plan was prepared at a time when the visitor facilities at Cradle Mountain were an embarrassment and there were issues with the recently introduced shuttle bus service.
The main, and widely supported, recommendation of the Master Plan was for a new visitor centre, which has now been constructed and operating for several years. The issues with the shuttle bus service have long since been rectified. A 2021 survey conducted on behalf of the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service found (page iv) “the clear majority of all respondents were satisfied overall with the shuttle bus service (97% in total), with the greater proportion by far being very satisfied (89%)”.
The cableway proposal has now been rebadged as a “sustainable transport solution” despite its main rationale being to substantially increase the number of visitors to Cradle Valley, which is not necessarily sustainable.
The TNPA is concerned that Cradle Valley already has so many visitors at peak periods that crowding and noise detract from the experience of visiting one of Australia’s most spectacular natural destinations. The existing shuttle bus service is working well with high visitor satisfaction as noted above. Any proposal for a major change in access to Cradle Valley should be justified by an evidence-based planning exercise which starts with consideration of the visitor experience to be provided at Cradle Valley and explores options for achieving a sustainable visitor experience.
The Tasmanian Government still invokes the Cradle Master Plan as justification for the cableway but its main current justification is a “transport options study” which had its origins in a request to demonstrate the economic viability of the proposal. It has not been publicly released but there is nothing to suggest that it is a comprehensive planning exercise as described in the previous paragraph.
The proposed cableway is a sop to the local tourism industry with serious environmental and social impacts rather than a serious proposal to meet an identified need.