Tasmanian news: Council bets on mountain biking, tourism boom rolls on – ABC News

Photo: Tasmania is popular with Asian tourists, particularly those from China. (ABC News: David Hudspeth)

Here’s what you need to know today:

Mayor calls for report release

A Tasmanian mayor has called on the State Government to release a report on future erosion damage along Tasmania’s North West Coast.

The Department of State Growth has declined ABC’s request to view the report.

Wynyard Mayor Robby Walsh says coastal erosion is of significant public interest to the region and the report should be made public.

“We’d like to see it. It is very important. The figures have been tabled on the costs of it but the actual detailed report I haven’t seen yet.

“We can’t afford to take ownership of that coastal corridor until that erosion is addressed, that’s the long and the short of it.”

Questions over ute mishap

Police are investigating a serious crash in northern Tasmania in which a man sustained head injuries after falling from a moving vehicle.

Police said the 34-year-old fell from the tray of a ute in Hadspen on Friday night.

His brother, a male driver and another man were inside the vehicle.

Inspector Darren Hopkins said the injured man was standing when he fell.

Meanwhile, a man had to be rescued from a flooded area in Mole Creek on Monday afternoon after becoming stuck while driving a tractor.

The rescue helicopter was sent to rescue the man but was recalled after he was able to be pulled out by another tractor.

On the trail of the Dragon

Break O’Day’s Mayor hopes a new mountain bike endurance race will give the region more international exposure.

The soon-to-be-opened St Helens Mountain Bike Trail Network has been announced as one of the three stages of the next year’s inaugural Dragon Trail Mountain Bike race.

Other stages will be at Derby and Blue Tier.

Break O’Day Mayor Mick Tucker said the council had decided to provide $6,500 in sponsorship for the event, and also pay for a perpetual trophy, because of the benefits for the region.

“Being an international event and the competitors coming from all around the world, it’s really going to put Break O’Day in general on the calendar and put it on the map,” he said.

Tassie’s still hot

New figures show Tasmania’s tourism industry continues to boom.

Tourism Tasmania’s annual snapshot shows visitation to the state rose by 3 per cent to a total of 1.2 million visitors in the year to March.

Tourism profits soared by 5 per cent to $2.49 billion.

The number of interstate visitors to the state has increased by 5 per cent to one-point-one million, with 80 per cent coming by air.

The snapshot also shows visitor numbers to the state’s west coast rose by 3 per cent, while visitor numbers to the east coast fell by 10 per cent.

Tourism numbers remain steady in the north and south.

Weather

External Link:
Hobart’s BoM radar at Mt Koonya

The forecast for Tasmania is for wind and rain increasing, cold in the southwest. Showers, cold in the southeast. Mostly sunny, cool-to-cold in the north.

For Wednesday, the forecast is for showers/storms, cold in the south. Highland snow later. Windy with showers, cold in the northwest. Showers increasing, cold in the northeast.

A full and updated list of warnings can be found on the Bureau of Meteorology’s Tasmanian Warnings summary webpage.

As of 6:30am the Pinnacle Road to the summit of Hobart’s kunanyi/Mount Wellington was closed at The Springs.

Check the council website for the updated status of Pinnacle Road.