{"id":742289,"date":"2026-06-17T12:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/742289\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T12:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:03:17","slug":"wellington-park-considers-charging-fees-to-drive-up-kunanyi-mt-wellington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/742289\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellington Park considers charging fees to drive up Kunanyi\/Mt Wellington"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wellington Park could charge visitors to drive up Kunanyi\/Mount Wellington under a new funding model being developed by the park\u2019s management trust, with the potential to raise up to $8.6 million a year.<\/p>\n

A draft business case recommends introducing vehicle access fees, an optional shuttle service and commercial licence agreements to fund the park, which currently relies almost entirely on local council funding.<\/p>\n

People walking, running or cycling into the park would continue to have free access.<\/p>\n

Amy Russell, general manager of the Wellington Park Management Trust, said the park now attracts 583,000 visitors a year \u2013 more than Cradle Mountain and Freycinet combined \u2013 but funding has not kept pace.<\/p>\n

\"\"The park could charge vehicle access fees to drive up kunanyi\/Mount Wellington. Image \/ City of Hobart<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mountain itself is almost totally funded by Hobart City Council to the tune of about five million dollars a year,\u201d she told Pulse.<\/p>\n

She said Glenorchy Council spends just under $1 million a year on the area above Tolosa Park.<\/p>\n

\"\"The trust is awaiting the state government\u2019s Our Mountains Future review before making a decision. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not sustainable, and we all know that improvements are needed for safety and amenity purposes, and we need to identify new revenue that\u2019s going to support that,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n

The report, put together by consultancy firm Evolve Tourism, estimates 87% of revenue would come from interstate and international visitors, meaning for every $1 paid by Tasmanians, around $6.80 would be contributed by visitors from outside the state.<\/p>\n

Under the best-case modelling, the trust could generate an annual net operating surplus of up to $5.3 million.<\/p>\n

Russell said the exact cost per vehicle had not been settled and remained redacted from the released document because \u201cthere\u2019s a sliding scale that\u2019s being tested and there hasn\u2019t actually been a recommendation that\u2019s been settled on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Wellington Park draws more visitors than Cradle Mountain and Freycinet combined. Image \/ City of Hobart<\/p>\n

Revenue would be split roughly evenly between reimbursing councils for maintenance costs and investing in a master plan covering traffic improvements, toilets, boardwalks and signage.<\/p>\n

The report warns that without a new revenue model, risks grow around visitor safety, bushfire preparedness, infrastructure failure and environmental damage.<\/p>\n

Introducing fees could reduce visitation by an estimated 29%, or around 183,000 fewer visits a year, which the report frames as a positive outcome for congestion and environmental pressure.<\/p>\n

Russell acknowledged locals would likely resist paying for something that has been free.<\/p>\n

\u201cInterstaters and internationals, they know and expect to have to pay to go in because it is the norm elsewhere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, under the Australian Constitution the trust cannot charge interstate visitors more than locals.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a federal legal perspective, we can\u2019t make it free for locals and then charge New South Wales people and Queenslanders \u2013 it has to be one fee for all,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n

The trust is waiting on the state government\u2019s Our Mountains Future review before finalising its position.<\/p>\n

Russell said the timing of that review remained unknown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wellington Park could charge visitors to drive up Kunanyi\/Mount Wellington under a new funding model being developed by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-742289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}