An innovative and far-sighted proposal to install a cable car system on the slopes of Black Mountain in the 1970s as a tourist attraction has been chosen by ArchivesACT as its Find of the Month for May.
Archives said the promise of the project was not only to bring significant numbers of tourists to the city but also provide locals with a further option to enjoy one of the most popular natural areas of Canberra.
“In July 1975, Black Mountain Cable Car Pty. Ltd. submitted a proposal to the Department of the Capital Territory to construct a cable car or aerial gondola system on Black Mountain that would bring people to the Territory and provide a bird’s eye view of the city,” Archives said said.
It said the company was established by a group of Canberra businesspeople who envisaged 35 gondolas, speeding 800 passengers an hour on a five-minute-each-way journey up Canberra’s most prominent mountain at $2 a ticket.
The group was prepared to invest $2 million to make it a reality.
A feasibility study of the system, conducted in April 1982, reported that there were 2,711,000 visitors to the ACT from February 1981 to January 1982.
On 15 May 1980 a new telecommunications tower was opened on Black Mountain, known as Black Mountain Tower (now known as Telstra Tower).
“The feasibility study reported an average of 18.6 per cent of visitors to the ACT included Black Mountain Tower in their itinerary,” Archives said.
“As reported in The Canberra Times, the response by the Department of the Capital Territory and National Capital Development Commission was largely to wait and see.”
Archives reports that there was opposition from a number of sectors including various community groups such as the Society for Growing Australian Plants and the National Botanic Gardens, who were concerned about the impact on vegetation in both their gardens and on Black Mountain.
The Department of Home Affairs and Environment expressed dissatisfaction with the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and in July 1983 the project was rejected, largely on environment grounds.
ArchivesACT has called for anyone with memories of the proposed cable car to share them on Twitter, including @ArchivesACT.
