Cablecar to Mona? Or shall we keep riding....

Tumultuous day on the track.

For the record: Larkey was living in fear of missing the social event of the year for yesterday's hippies and negativitist - the blockade at the brewery to prevent the cable car to the summit.

But with carefully attuned early starting (0830hrs from RYCT) and with guest rider from Universidad de California de San Diego - one Tony Koslow, and Larkey keen not to disappoint at the civil protest later, it was sure to be a windy ride - plenty of gas-bagging.

Tony is an oceanographist. That means graphing the ocean. So there was spirited, open and enthusiastic discussion about real things, like sea trenches, hills under the water, and fish being caught in nets and eaten.

Image: Tony Koslow, at the beach in a light blue, almost pyjama like collared shirt, ideal for entry to the RYCT

To listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzG_PKNG0ic

But I digress; the importance of the trip was exercise and health. Good spirit and humility, humour and a good coffee at a pleasant venue.

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Kimber, Fitzgibbon, Larkey and Koslow) adjusted seats, pumped up their tires (literally, not figuratively) and ascended the King St - Sandy Bay mountain to the pinnacle: Montpelier Retreat.

At that point it was downhill to Salamanca, and wouldn't a cable car be lovely?

Dodging the meandering touristos, past the fantastically well developed Macquarie Point 'site' or should it be 'sight' - their advertising signs indicate 'Something for Everyone' - well, at the moment there is nothing for nobody. Are we at all disappointed? You bet the fcuk we aren't because we are 'Srtrayins', and building something for people to use for recreation is for other countries.

But I digress, this is about the bike ride.  

Facts: (yet to be endorsed by the Trumpet, and possibly it might be argued by him, if they don't suit that Mayor Guiliano didn't know all the facts and wasn't fully briefed - especially if he gives sufficient information for an indictment or impeachment):

Conditions: curiously windy, but not consistently so. A headwind on the way out on the bike track to Mona. Warm, with predicted 19 degrees later in the day.

Average speed: 18.6km/hr by the time we got back to RYCT

Maximum speed: 50km/hr (I think down Montpelier Retreat past the courts)

Time: 1hr and 40 minutes. So it takes us about 2 hrs and a half to do that, because we stop for coffee and shoot the breeze.

Distance: 31.28km.  I reckon that is an honest endeavour.

So what is the true story on the cablecar? No bastard has been told, and the punters promoting it are keeping their powder dry so it won't be shot down in flames (picture that half way up the organ pipes!) by the very much more experienced lobby against.

Image: what was a modern cable car at the time the pundits put the proposal up to the Hobart City Council in the first instance

Do we know where it will go?

Who will own it?

What will it cost?

Where are the pylons?

What will it look like from all directions and views (easy done, if you want)?

See the proponents' information site: 

https://mtwellingtoncablecar.com/benefits

From that information I glean:

Where will it start? at the Cascade Brewery. Makes sense to me: already a road up there, and close to town for access. Also, why should the Brewery have all the best space all to itself?

Pylons: apart from down low, there will be one on Cascade Brewery land, with a 2.1km direct line to the top pylon. They will look:  fabricated in a steel-lattice similar to high-voltage transmission pylons. Tallest tower: 30m high. 

Cost: $50M - including public cost, asserted as 'public infrastructure upgrade' of $6M. We are talking roads and walkways, and viewing platforms in that $6M.

Who owns it? A syndicate of punters, majority of whom are Tasmanians.  Will they own it afterwards? Not necessarily, but if it goes ok, or if it goes badly, they will likely keep it - but if it is a meagre return, you can anticipate they will flog it off to get their capital out. Names: Well, when you talk of a 'handful of local Tasmanian high net worth individuals', that means if you don't know them yet, you won't know them when I tell you, because there are only about 6 such people!

Is it viable? So the proponents say, and so say their independent financial reports. Sceptics can suggest otherwise, but why the fcuk would you propose something for which you had any strong indication that it would fail?  

What do I think on viability? I know you don't care (or, more accurately, my opinion may be irrelevant), but I reckon that it is certainly to be profitable. At seat prices of $30 to $50 and gondolas capable of taking 30 people, and with existing tourist numbers, and the almost inevitable enthusiasm they will all have to see Hobart from the air without having to take a parachute, she is a goer.

Now, after that, the concern is 'what will it look like'? Called visual impact in the 21st century.   Go here and have a look yourself: https://mtwellingtoncablecar.com/visual-impact/

Or look at this one:

https://mtwellingtoncablecar.com/masterplan-1/

I tell you what: I'm sceptical that this graphic representation is as clear as it could be. For something so fundamentally of interest, it is very difficult to assess. A 'plan' view only, and nothing to demonstrate what it will look like from the hundreds of relevant views. This is something your consultants can do, if you ask, and if having asked, you want to publish.

I don't blame them for sheltering it from public view, but say, with the onus to demonstrate, you are better putting up all the information and stand by the reality there will be adverse 'visual impact' for some especially sensitive people, from some viewpoints, but that on the whole (if this be your assertion) it is worth it for the minor pain for the community and business gain.

Image: protesters today 6th May 2018) at the Cascade Brewery Gardens: "No cable car". A happy day for getting together on common ground.

Of course, there are very many other issues, positive and negative. But that gives you the taste of today's issue for the Bikeriders!

Returning to Channel 16: over and out.

El Kimbros

x