HOBART SCENIC PROTECTION AREA
“The visual beauty of Wellington Park is one of the most important factors shaping people’s perception of it.”
In the earliest Scenic Landscape Recognition, this 1798 map shows the mountain as “Skiddaw” within a range of “High Mountains”. The very title High Mountains” is recognised today as the most significant scenic landscape class in the state.
The mountain represents the eastern-most extent of this spectacularly scenic area of Tasmania—with most to it visible to the west from atop the mountain at the Pinnacle.
In 1798 a small ship commanded by Lt John Hayes found its way up Storm Bay. For Hayes, everything was new. Hayes noticed and sketched the mountain, naming it Skiddaw. He noted the long chain of peaks stretching to the south. In England his crude sketches and soundings of the waterways were turned into a published maps. The chain of mountains was described in boldface as “HIGH MOUNTAINS”. Over two hundred years later, in 2018, Tasmania sub-divided the island into landscape regions and adopted a “High Mountains Landscape Character” for the South West—with a little finger of the region at its eastward fringe including the mountain.
The scenic interest of the mountain is one of the original reasons why Wellington Park was reserved and its preservation or protection is a cardinal purpose of the Wellington Park Act; however, recognition is little more than description without specific, proscriptive protection in a planning scheme and, for its historic and aesthetic value, heritage listing.
What is scenic interest? Scenic interest may reside in a beautiful landscape but it is also broader. Scenery is the general appearance of a place and its natural features, regarded from the picturesque point of view—and the dictionary identifies both tree and cloud scenery, and notes scenic railways. More significantly (as the Act’s purpose itself is a carryover from the Scenery Protection Act 1915) “scenic interest” is broader because it can pertain to land lacking aesthetic value if said land is, say, of significant scientific or historic worth. Historical scenery is significant for being where a great event of history took place, say a battlefield, the houses of important people, the spot upon which a great artist stood to paint or a scientist stooped to collect. One quotation from Dickens (among many) may suffice to show that a mountain is likely to have scenic interest. ‘The country round this town being very flat, is bare of scenic interest.’
The practice of preserving and protecting scenic interest is well-founded in Tasmania in the planning scheme and in the National Parks Act that subsumed the Scenery Protection Act. Enshrine has nominations for scenery protection before both the Hobart and the Kingborough Councils.
Assessment for establishing a Scenic Protection Area is based on a methodology created by the Tasmanian Planning Commission. The methodology divides the state into landscape zones. Arguably (for the purposes of the scheme) the “High Mountains” zone (along with the Central Plateau uplands are the key landscapes.
To assess whether particular high places have sufficient landscape features or qualities, they must possess features such as: ‘Mountains and glaciated peaks with dramatically steep forms and colour; or well defined, serrated and visually distinctive mountain hill ridges; or massive cliffs, rock faces or rock outcrops, rock escarpments or rock scree slopes that are visually prominent or dominate the surrounding landscape.’ Vegetation features such as ‘Strongly defined stands of or combinations of naturally appearing stands of eucalypt forest (and patches of unusually tall eucalypts), alpine vegetation seen as distinctive vegetative patterns, colours and textures.’ Cultural heritage features such as ‘very prominent, unique or extensive visual influence of cultural heritage features reflecting local history through built forms and structures such as rustic timber huts, chalets, stone walls etc. with traditional/historic architecture styles that visually enhance the high mountain landscape and wilderness setting.’ Native wildlife features such as ‘Areas with a high and consistent (year around or seasonally) visual presence of native fauna (e.g., kangaroos, quolls, wallabies wombats, quolls, wallabies, eagles, hawks, and other raptors, reptiles and amphibians, waterfowl and native birds.’
It is apparent that the mountain ticks these boxes. In its case study, the methodology document itself recognised the Mount Wellington Area in the “High Scenic Quality Class”.
Kingborough, Glenorchy and Huon Vallet Councils have established a scenic protection area overlay in their local planning schemes. Hobart, we hope, will be next.
Both Kingborough and Glenorchy have recognised the scenic value of the high mountain and included it in the Scenic Protection Area overlay of their planning schemes. (See map below.) Currently, there is a hole in the middle over Hobart. This hole is itself undesirable as planning schemes are required to take into account the zoning and overlays of the surrounding land.
In 2022 the Hobart’s Draft Local Provisions Schedule recognised the importance of retaining the view line from the city to the summit. A strategy to no avail if the skyline itself is not recognised in the Scheme.
In its own case study, the methodology document recognised the Mount Wellington Area in the “High Scenic Quality Class”.