The managing authority for Hobart's Kunanyi/Mount Wellington has questioned why a draft plan for the mountain includes a recommendation for a cable car, documents released under Right to Information (RTI) laws show.

Wellington Park Management Trust's July minutes show the State Growth Department briefed the trust on a state government strategic review of management of the mountain and Wellington Park.

"Trust members questioned why the cable car was included as a draft recommendation," the minutes read.

"In response, the presenters advised that there was a recognised need for all-weather access and other methods of transport."

Tasmanian Greens deputy leader Vica Bayley said the draft recommendations were "deeply disturbing".

The latest cable car proposal was rejected by the Hobart City Council, nine votes to three, in 2022.

The proponent, the Mount Wellington Cableway Company, appealed against the council's decision to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT), but the appeal failed.

TASCAT found the proposal did not meet standards around noise, visual impact and impacts on geo heritage and biodiversity.

The Mount Wellington Cableway Company has since laid low. However, during the submission period last year for the strategic review, it called on the public to support its cable car plan.

The company has welcomed the news that a cable car may be recommended in the action plan for the mountain, but declined to comment on whether it planned to put forward another proposal for one.

Mr Bayley said the issue "should have been settled".

"This is an issue that's been rejected by the community and by the planning appeals tribunal, because it's not consistent with protecting the values of the mountain," Mr Bayley said.

Business, Industry and Resources Minister Felix Ellis said the department was "consulting on all potential options to feed into the strategic review's action plan".

Feedback points out 'commercial' focus

Each of the draft recommendations in the government's review were blacked out before the documents were released under RTI, but the documents did include the feedback given by the Wellington Park Management Trust.

Responding to one of the recommendations, the trust said it did not support a focus on building visitation "over and above organic growth, before current visitation can be supported".

"The purposes for which WP [Wellington Park] was set aside include to provide recreational and tourism uses and opportunities, but not to proactively grow visitation," the trust wrote.

"There appears to be an overarching repositioning of Wellington Park as a commercial tourism product.

"Actively building visitation (over and above organic growth) before current visitation can be safely accommodated is not supported."

Mountain review reflects community split

Tasmanians have long been divided over the value of a cable car on Kunanyi/Mount Wellington.

Since the first proposal in 1905, multiple plans have been put forward.

When the latest iteration was rejected by the Hobart City Council, 10,000 people viewed the live stream of the meeting, while the development proposal received 16,537 public submissions.

In May 2024, the then-responsible minister, Eric Abetz, announced a "strategic 12-month review" into the management of the mountain and the broader Wellington Park.

Kunanyi/Mount Wellington attracts more than 400,000 locals and tourists each year.

The review intended to assess how to improve land management, transport options, visitor infrastructure and cultural experiences on the site. 

In more than 9,000 public submissions to the review, support for and against a cable car featured heavily.

30 per cent specifically mentioned their support for one, while 28 per cent mentioned their opposition.

When the government's review was announced, some local residents feared it would reignite plans for a cable car. At the time, the government dismissed those concerns.

The government's plan for the mountain is due to be finalised early next year.