Developers have been urged to abandon contentious plans for a cable car to the pinnacle of Hobart's kunanyi/Mt Wellington after the proposal was rejected by Tasmania's planning tribunal.
Hobart City Council in July last year voted against the Mount Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) project, prompting the company to appeal the decision.
The appeal was on Thursday dismissed by the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which found the plan didn't meet noise, visual impact, biodiversity and geoheritage standards.
The MWCC plan included a centre at the summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington featuring a cafe, visitor information centre, retail area, visitor amenities, offices and a rangers' office.
It planned to run two cable cars, each carrying up to 40 passengers, via three towers.
Thousands of people protested against a cable car in 2018 and about 72 per cent of a record 16,500 public submissions to council opposed the project.
"This decision is yet another comprehensive rejection of the cable car," Residents Opposed to the Cable Car spokesman Vica Bayley said.
"This is a clear signal to the proponent ... to give up on their vision to privatise the summit of the mountain and abandon this or any alternative cable car development."
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, the Bob Brown Foundation, state Greens and federal independent member Andrew Wilkie have also called for the MWCC to drop its plans.
The company can appeal the tribunal's decision in the Supreme Court.
MWCC chair Chris Oldfield said the company would take time to consider its position.
"We need to get advice from our legal and planning advisers on the technical detail of the tribunal's determination," he said in a statement.
"The tribunal's determination and its implications for the future of the project also need to be considered by our board and key shareholders."
State Liberal MP Guy Barnett said the government would hold discussions with the MWCC and the community.
"We've always, as a government, supported the merit of a cable car and the benefits it would provide," he told reporters.
The tribunal ruled the proposal failed to meet the standards of the Hobart Interim Planning Scheme and Wellington Park Management Plan.
It said the cable car would have an unreasonable impact on residential amenity outside the park and an adverse effect on people's quiet enjoyment of the park's natural and cultural values.
It also said proposed native vegetation removal would result in the loss of breeding habitat for the threatened swift parrot and masked owl.
The tribunal assessed 26 grounds of refusal raised by council and others and found the project failed 18.
"The proposed pinnacle centre, the cableway and a tower on the escarpment above the Organ Pipes would adversely impact visual values and visual character in the park," it said.
The MWCC had previously slated a 2023-24 build with operations beginning in 2024.
