Post by gondola-project

Process indeed! Protestors consider legal action against this cable car’s very colour. (Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1hiOk8Q)

Last week the state government of Victoria, Australia signed a 50-year lease for a new tourist-oriented gondola on Arthurs Seat. It replaces a 1960 2-person chairlift that was shuttered in 2006 after a series of incidents. The process was long and arduous but necessary, following all the rules.

With the lease in place, the Arthurs Seat Skylift is essentially a go. Or is it?

The opposition group, Save Our Seat (SOS – get it?) appears hell-bent on delaying, obstructing and otherwise harassing a project that’s been in the works for years. Kyrie Greer of SOS said to the Mornington Peninsula News “it is shameful Parks Victoria and the state government have not gone with a more environmentally sensitive approach to revitalizing such an important part of Victoria’s heritage. Eco-tourism is the way of the future, not electricity-driven, high infrastructure-based developments.”

Apparently Ms. Greer doesn’t know that all transportation systems are electricity-driven. The cleanliness of a transit mode — or anything powered by electricity — is determined by: a) the fuel used to produce the electricity and b) how much electricity the transport system uses.

Ms. Greer never stated what the preferred alternative is (perhaps donkeys?) but vowed to continue the fight against the system, despite agreeing there’s “now little chance of stopping Skylift.”

SOS’s next tactic could be to challenge the system based upon it’s colour which is reported to be Pantone Process Blue. SOS is seeking legal advice about the council’s decision regarding the colour and may apply to the Victoria Civil and Administration Tribunal if there are “sufficient grounds to challenge it.”

Yes, the colour. Seriously.

Stuff like this is infuriating. Not because it’s about gondolas but because it’s about people incapable of swallowing sour grapes, attempting to subvert proper process because they didn’t like its results.

In life, sometimes things don’t go your way. In fact, most things won’t go your way. That’s just the way it is. Understanding that is part of being a mature person and a good local citizen.

Democracy may grant you the right to an opinion but nowhere is it written that your opinion has to be right. The democratic is also expensive and stuff like this needlessly increases costs. A good citizen doesn’t try to delay and subvert proper process by filing trivial grievances that waste everyone’s time and money.

I don’t know if the Arthurs Seat Gondola is a good idea or a bad idea and frankly I don’t care. It’s not my decision to make. It’s the decision of the State of Victoria, Parks Victoria and the local community council. And all parties have decided the gondola is a good idea.

I hope those parties also decide that Pantone Process Blue shouldn’t be allowed to get in the way of proper process.