AN almost 30-year-old organisation has thrown its support behind the idea of aerial access at Jenolan Caves.
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The Jenolan Environment Protection Committee - a private organisation whose objectives include supporting "sensitive tourism" at the site - is urging the NSW Government to commit to building a "cable-driven elevated inclined railway" to deliver visitors into the precinct.
It follows the recent release of a NSW Department of Planning and Environment five-year draft masterplan for the precinct that proposes a feasibility study for future aerial access options - something that has been supported by Oberon mayor Mark Kellam.
"That's been simmering away for years now," Cr Kellam told the Western Advocate recently in regards to aerial access.
He said any such access would likely be via "a cable car of some description".
"The aerial access will be a great attraction for itself, as you'll be doing a ride down into the Jenolan Caves precinct. That's pretty steep country, so it'll be a magnificent view," he said.
"It'll also reduce the road traffic that goes down into the Jenolan Caves. Actually, there'll be almost no road traffic at all. That's great for the cave precinct and great for the wildlife. It's respect that is due to it, being a World Heritage Site."
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The Jenolan Environment Protection Committee - which was inaugurated in 1985, "to strike a balance between protection and inappropriate tourist developments" - has released a multi-page proposal arguing the case for a cable-driven inclined railway.
It says such railways are "quiet, energy efficient, environmentally friendly" and would deal with the "environmental repercussions" caused by road traffic travelling through the Grand Arch.
In terms of how such a railway works, the Jenolan Environment Protection Committee says two cars are permanently connected to the opposite ends of the same cable, known as a haul rope, which pulls one car upwards while the other car descends the slope at the other end of the rope.
"Except for the weight of passengers, the weight of the two cars is counterbalanced, so the electric motor only has to lift the excess passengers and supply the energy lost to friction," the committee says.
"In the two-rail system proposed, the cars always pass at the same location every trip and only needs a single platform at each end."
The Jenolan Environment Protection Committee proposes that the inclined railway would run from a location at the top of the Two Mile Hill (south-west of Jenolan Caves) "down to the present location of the Surveyors Creek Car Park".
It is recommending a car park and visitor centre be constructed at the top of the Two Mile Hill to serve the railway.
The committee also suggests the construction of a solar farm with battery storage at the top of the Two Mile Hill, connected to the NSW distribution network, to provide the power for the use of the railway "and, with a restored hydroelectric power plant, provide power to all other operations at Jenolan".
The Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust's (JCRT) five-year draft masterplan, meanwhile, which was released last month, says "funding for an aerial option, including both capital and operating expenditure, is not currently available, however JCRT recognises that before this can be secured, a NSW Government business case will need to be prepared".
"In order that this may be pursued, JCRT is committed to undertake a feasibility and design study of future aerial access options," the masterplan says.
Jenolan Caves recently reopened after its latest closure due to road access problems.
