A community group opposing the development of a cable car on Hobart's kunanyi/Mount Wellington has denied it made online threats against the company behind the project, labelling the allegations a "dirty tricks campaign".
In a statement yesterday, the group Residents Opposed To The Cable Car included screenshots it said were of Facebook posts made by the Hobart Cable Car Supporters Group.
The Residents Opposed group said the screenshots implied "those opposed to the cable car … development are inciting violence".
"Never in the history of environmental protest in Tasmania have protesters resorted to violence," Residents Opposed To The Cable Car spokesman Ted Cutlan said.
The Mount Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) said it had referred the alleged threats to police.
In a statement, Tasmania Police said it had "received a report of online comments in relation to the Mount Wellington Cableway Company".
"Police have met with the company representatives as well as the Residents Opposed to the Cable Car group," the statement read.
Cable car development a long-running debate
The development was the latest spat in the long-running row between groups opposing and in favour of the Mount Wellington Cableway Company's controversial proposal — the latest incarnation of an idea which has long divided opinion in the city.
Mount Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) chair Chris Oldfield said he had been made aware of the alleged threats made online over the past couple of weeks.
"[We] have initiated a discussion with police regarding those threats and publicly announced protest action," Mr Oldfield said.
"The safety of everyone, whether they are people associated with the cable car, protestors or the general public — is absolutely paramount."
Mr Oldfield urged those organising protests to "caution supporters against doing anything that risks their personal safety".
"We aim always to be respectful of all points of view and we ask that others take the same position," he said.
Mr Cutlan said the Residents Opposed Group was "deeply committed to non-violence".
"Anyone who attended our rally last year knows that people opposing the project come from sides of politics and all walks of life. We are unified in our love of the mountain."
He pointed to recent workshops, in which group members were instructed in how to passively protest the development.
"Residents Opposed To The Cable Car are deeply committed to non-violence, which is precisely why we have been organising peaceful direct action training for the local community," Mr Cutlan said.
Hobart Cable Car Supporters Group spokesman Graham Murray said: "I refute wholeheartedly the claim that the Hobart Cable Car Supporters Group had anything to do with it."
Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds has appealed to all sides to stay calm.
"We've got to have a mature discussion about the future of the mountain," she told ABC Hobart.
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