The review - Our Mountain's Future - was intended to create a vision for Kunanyi / Mount Wellington and Wellington Park, then identify ways to achieve that vision.
The Tasmanian Government published the Terms of Reference for the review in August 2024. This document explains the objectives, scope, governance, timing and consultation approach for the review.
Kunanyi / Mount Wellington and Wellington Park hold a special place in the hearts and minds of all Tasmanians. The Tasmanian Government acknowledges there are challenges associated with the mountain and the broader park and is determined to understand what needs to change so that Tasmania’s future vision for the mountain can be turned into a reality.
The strategic review of Kunanyi / Mount Wellington provided an opportunity for all Tasmanians to have their say on the long-term vision for the mountain and the broader Wellington Park. The review’s findings informed the development of strategic objectives and recommendations to the Tasmanian Government.
The review focussed primarily on three themes:
Values management is about how best to educate, protect and celebrate cultural and environmental values, including:
User experience is about how best to provide for sustainable recreation, access and other uses, including:
Administration is about how best to manage Wellington Park, including:
The review was led by Building Tasmania with oversight from a Steering Committee comprised of heads of relevant Government departments (Building Tasmania, Premier and Cabinet, Treasury and Finance, and Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania), and reported to the Minister for Business, Industry and Resources.
Building Tasmania conducted the review in an open, transparent and genuine manner that facilitated broad stakeholder and community engagement. The community was encouraged to share and express its views on the long-term future of the mountain and Wellington Park in the first phase of the review.
Building Tasmania led the strategic review of Kunanyi / Mount Wellington.
The Tasmanian Government’s strategic review was designed to complement the Trust’s work. The strategic review will help develop a long‑term Vision for the mountain, which covers a longer time horizon than the Trust’s Management Plan.
The review has no interaction with the previous cable car proposal.
Access to the mountain, is one of many things considered as part of the review. The Action Plan considers how best to manage access to the mountain into the future, and recognises that community safety remains a key consideration for any transport solution.
The review was overseen by a Steering Committee made up of heads of relevant Government departments: Building Tasmania, Premier and Cabinet, Treasury and Finance, and Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.
A Working Group was also set up to provide greater insights and guidance comprising representatives from State and local Government, TasWater, Tourism Tasmania and Wellington Park Management Trust.
Building Tasmania engaged with the Tasmanian community through the consultation period. We know that the mountain and park are important to people from across the community, and that views can be diverse. In addition to the survey of the Tasmanian community, we held targeted focus groups including with young people, the Aboriginal community, tourism representatives, people with disability and special interest groups.
We also know that the tourists make up a large portion of the Park's visitors. We asked tourists to have their say through the Tasmanian Visitor Survey over the peak tourism season.
Building Tasmania continued to work with key stakeholders to prepare the Action Plan. This included Aboriginal organisations, fire management agencies, tourism organisations and peak bodies.
Consultation is now closed. We encouraged people to have their say from 23 October to 4 December 2024. The consultation findings have been used to create the Vision for Our Mountain’s Future, which can be found here. The Action Plan builds on the Vision together with further stakeholder consultation to outline a pathway for realising the community's aspirations.
| The first step is to review existing legislation to establish the new Managing Authority and make sure it has the right legal powers to function effectively and set it up to be able to deliver the recommendations in the action plan. The managing authority will be responsible for implementing the recommendations in the action plan. As the single authority responsible for the park, it will be able to make strategic decisions about what improvements should be made, and implement them in sensible and coordinated way. |
This is undecided and will ultimately be the decision of the new managing authority.
We know the infrastructure and amenities of the park are aging and desperately in need of upgrades or enhancement and this will take significant funding and resources. This is on top of the cost of just keeping the mountain open as it is now.
The action plan explores a number of opportunities to increase funding from new sources so that we can lift amenities up to the standard expected by the community.
Similar to how we manage our National Parks, one option among a number under consideration is to implement a pass system for all those using the park.Wellington Park is unlikely to meet the criteria for National Park listing under the Nature Conservation Act 2002 as its diverse values and mixed uses make it difficult to fit neatly within an existing reserve category. Making Wellington Park a National Park would also limit flexibility, replacing tailored management with a standard framework that does not meet its unique needs and uses. Maintaining Wellington Park as a special reserve under its own bespoke legislation means it can receive the dedicated attention it needs.
| Any development will still require assessment by the relevant planning authority against the Management Plan. It does however remove the duplicated consent requirement from the Trust and the landowner – as it would for any development. |
| Regardless of what happens in the future, Pinnacle Road remains an important route for commercial businesses, access to other areas of the park and emergency and park management functions. It will be essential that it is maintained adequately and the action plan puts forward several recommended improvements to Pinnacle Road for the new managing authority to consider. Through the legislative review, strategic access planning will also become a key function of the managing authority, which will make sure that it will be required to consider alternative solutions including how the park interacts with the work being done on a visitor centre and transit hub by City of Hobart at Halls Saddle. |
Commercial licensing will be made clearer by establishing a single application pathway through the new managing authority to get a commercial license without needing to get consent from several different bodies. If a scalable commercial licensing system is implemented, it will ensure that small tourism businesses are charged a fee reflective of their size and impact, making it fairer for all operators.
Date last updated: 2 September 2026
