Stakeholders Association Letter to the Prime Minister
Urgent request for Transparency in MBIE’s conduct regarding the skifields at Mt Ruapehu
I am writing today to share an important letter that the Ruapehu Skifields Stakeholders Association sent to the Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, and key ministers on 7 June 2023.
This letter was sent after careful deliberation with our stakeholders and highlights our group’s serious concerns with the process undertaken by MBIE in relation to the current RAL administration and upcoming 2023 Winter Season.
Following the recent Newshub interview and article, “Ruapehu hapū not ruling out high court injunction” published Friday 9th June. We are now at very real risk of seeing no 2023 ski season which would be devastating to the local region, or seeing a corporate takeover rushed through with a false sense of urgency.
We are therefore, asking the Government and MBIE to pause this process immediately and allow a caretaker to run RAL trading through the Winter 2023 Season, under the current company and concessions. This will provide certainty for the local community, skifield staff, regional tourism operators, and the skiing public. The company has already has winter operations ready to go with chairlifts fitted and staff hired for the winter season. Pausing the corporate takeover process will not disrupt the season, but rushing things at this critical juncture could have consequences for decades to come.
A pause to the process will then allow time for a robust framework to be put in-place which ensures transparent and respectful consultation can take place. This will mean better decisions regarding the long-term future of snow sports on Mt Ruapehu.
If the ski season does not proceed, in our view this will be clearly due to poor handling of the situation by MBIE (as outlined in our letter). It will not be due to Iwi, our group, or any of the other bidders, such as Dave Mazey and Tom Elworthy, or Bruce Stockwell, Cam Robertson and Greg Hickman of Pure Tūroa, who all clearly love the mountain and want to see a positive outcome.
I hope everyone will join us in sending this clear message to the Government.
Yours Sincerely
Jason Platt – Chairman
Ruapehu Skifield Stakeholders Association
