The submissions regarding the transfer of the Tūroa skifield concession to a new operator have been made public on the Department of Conservation website and online and hearings start today!
Our team have taken the time to read through a lot of the submissions that have been added to the DoC website and have seen some great, varied perspectives. Following is our summary and key takeaways from the submissions. For your ease we have also created one large PDF file to view all submissions below, as well as an Excel document referencing all of the submissions.
RSSA submission summary
Submissions supporting the application: 316
The majority of submissions in support of the application lacked any real detail and very concerning was the number of blank/had no reason or one-line responses without any relation to the submission.
The notable exception was a submission by Mike Wiggins (Submission 3) representing the Ohakune Business Network. This highlights that 81 local businesses support Pure Tūroa Ltd and that the region as a whole need some certainty on what the future looks like. However, we note there are assumptions and factual inaccuracies including that Pure Tūroa Ltd have Ngāti Rangi support, which is not evidenced and is contradicted by other submissions, as well the incorrect statement that the RSSA DOCA never offered to pay any of the creditors.
The sentiment across submissions for supporting the application was “I just want the skiing at Tūroa to continue because I love skiing’, ‘I have a business in the area, and I believe PTL is the best option’ and 'RAL treated Ohakune/Tūroa poorly and we believe splitting them will bring back competition'.
Submissions opposing or neutral to the application: 157
The majority of submissions objecting or neutral to the application were overall very detailed with a mix of highly factual details specific to the concession, historical concern regarding Te Tiriti, specific plans/lift removal/capacity, and long-term viability of the PTL proposal. The most important submissions to note objecting, which we would urge you to read, are:
Iwi submissions including Patutokotoko, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Hāua, and Aiden Gilbert (Uenuku Chair), which do not support the PTL concession application and raise serious concerns and inaccuracies regarding the application covering plagiarism, Treaty issues, and environmental issues.
Liquidation committee which outlines significant issues with the long-term viability of the application, as well as clearly showing that RAL ran profitably last season, despite many millions of dollars being paid to the liquidators, receivers, and their legal teams. Please note that this is the original version, as the DoC published document had redacted the numbers showing that RAL was profitable.
RSSA which highlights the negative downstream impacts of the reduction of overall ski area and lift capacity, reduced visitors to the Ruapehu District, the importance of the Tongariro National Park Management Plan, and granting a concession to a privately owned operation during Treaty negotiations with iwi in the region.
To note the above iwi submissions clearly validate the concerns voiced by RSSA over the past 15 months, who represents over 1000 wider ski community members. Specifically, that concessions are not very likely to be forthcoming and the most logical option is to support a RAL creditor compromise to ensure certainty.
RAL is still operating as we saw last year, where they even had a profitable season, despite all the disruption and millions of dollars being paid to consultants. If the government ‘gifted’ the same deal to RAL (writing off all debt except the Sky Waka) in exchange for a 25% stake, then we would be up and running with certainty in an instant. A new board and management including iwi and Tūroa representatives solves most, if not all, the remaining issues (including the previous lack of love by RAL for Tūroa).
The process driven by MBIE and overpaid consultants has been deliberately divisive, which is clear when you read the submissions. We all want the same outcome “the continued success of the ski fields for the next 70 years”.
If only there was a way to get everyone together to work as a unified Ski community.
Hearing dates
The hearings start today. The dates and locations for the Tūroa Ski Field Concession Application are:
Thursday 22 and Friday 23 February in Ohakune at the Ruapehu District Council Chambers.
Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 February in Tūrangi at the Department of Conservation office.
Virtually, via Microsoft Teams on all four days.
If you would like to attend and listen to the hearing via Microsoft Teams, email mtruapehusubmissions@doc.govt.nz.
If you asked to be heard we encourage you to do so, however some our members are not available on any of the days and have asked that we represent them as their proxy, and we are happy to do so for you too.
If you would like to have one of the RSSA team represent you as your proxy, please email us at proxy@rssa.org.nz and advise which published submission is yours and what you would like us to get across on your behalf.
If you would like to discuss your submission opposing the Application with other submitters, we have set up a Facebook group: Save Mt Ruapehu Concession Submission Group
We will stay in touch as the concession process progresses.
Ngā mihi
The RSSA Team
As always, all donations are welcomed 😉!
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