Francesca Rudkin: The Ruapehu District needs the Chateau to be saved

I am so pleased to see NZ Herald Business Journalist Kate McNamara continue to write about the woes in the Ruapehu District.  

Why? Because the Ruapehu region has been hit hard with indecision around the two ski fields, the sudden closure of the Chateau two years ago; followed by the loss of over 200 jobs when Winstone’s pulp and timber mills shut down late last year. 

This region has taken a beating through no fault of their own!  

Yesterday McNamara focused on the issues surrounding the majestic Chateau Tongariro Hotel, which has been sitting in a derelict state for two years. It's a sad sight at the base of Ruapehu. A desolate Chateau, the golf course overgrown, and empty buildings surrounding it. The area feels quietly paused in time, with no sense of if and when it may spring back to life. 

Whakapapa Holdings Ltd, the company in the process of buying the Whakapapa Ski Field, is keen to discuss the future of the Chateau with government officials. They are interested in taking on the historic chateau, reviving it, providing employment, an increase in tourism, and offering some economic stability for the region.  

The problem is – no one is really interested in talking to them. 

As we learnt with the ski fields, this is a complicated region that requires sensitive conversations between government, the Department of Conservation, iwi and other stakeholders. It was a struggle to find a consensus over the ski fields – with some preferring the continuation of a not-for-profit organisation such as previous operators RAL, others’ preferring to hand things over to private operators.  

Along the way, a lot of government money was put into keeping the ski fields afloat, until it got to the point where the fields were too expensive to fail, as was the prospect of closing them down, removing all structures from the mountain and returning it to its natural state.   

Getting the Chateau up and running again will cost many millions of dollars – but on the right terms, such as a 30 year lease and a peppercorn rent, WHL would be willing to make the investment. They have also done research into the earthquake strengthening which needs to be done and believe it’s not as extensive as previously suggested.  

Look, this might not be the deal which makes everyone happy, but frankly I don’t see anyone else queuing up to give it a go. Leaving the chateau empty and decaying for years, possibly decades - at the cost of around $150 - $200,000 a month for maintenance – when a possible solution sits on the table is simply depressing.  

The government needs to deal with the lease termination agreement and payment to the previous operators, reopen expressions of interest, and have some conversations. Talking is almost always a good place to start, so please take the call.  

Ruapehu is an incredible part of our country, and one that deserves to be thriving. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now I am so pleased to see that. New Zealand
Business Herald journalist Kate McNamara continues to ride about the
woes in the rue pay Who district. Why because the
ruapey Who region has been hit hard with indecision around
two ski fields. The sudden closure of the chateau two
years ago, followed by the loss of over two hundred
jobs when Windstone's pump, pulp and timber mills shut down
late last year, the region has taken a beating through

(00:22):
no fault of their own. Yesterday, McNamara focused on the
issues surrounding the majestic Chateau Tongurero Hotel, which has been
sitting in a derelict state for two years. It's a
sad sight at the base of RuPay Who. I don't
know if you've seen it recently. A desolate chateau, the
golf course over growing, an empty building surrounding it. The
area feels quietly paused in time, with no sense of

(00:44):
if and when it may spring back to life. Fokobaba
Holdings Limited, the company and the process of buying the
Fockapuba ski field, is keen to discuss the future of
the chateau with government officials. They're interested in taking on
historic shadow, reviving it, providing employment, an increase in tourism,
offering some economic stability for the region. The problem is
no one is really interested in talking to them. As

(01:07):
we've learnt with the ski fields, this is a complicated
region that requires sensitive conversations between government, the Department of
Conversation EWI, and other stakeholders. It was a struggle to
find the consensus over the ski fields, with some preferring
the continuation of a not for profit organization such as
the previous operator Ral, others preferring to hand things over
to private operators. Along the way, a lot of government

(01:30):
money was put into keeping the ski fields afloat until
it got to the point where the fields were too
expensive to fail, as was the prospect of closing them down,
removing all destructures from the mountain and returning it to
its natural state. Getting the chateau up and running again
is going to cost millions of dollars, but on the
right term, such as a thirty year lease in a
peppercorn rent, WHL will be willing to make the investment.

(01:52):
They've also done the research into the earthquake strengthening Lohich
needs to be done and believe it is not as
extensive as previously suggested. Look, this might not be the
deal which makes everyone happy, but frankly I don't see
anyone else queuing up to give it a go. Leaving
the chateau empty and decaying for years, possibly decades, at
the cost of around one hundred and fifty to two

(02:12):
hundred thousand dollars a month for maintenance when a possible
solution sits on the table is simply depressing. The government
needs to deal with the least termination agreement and pay
the previous operators, reopen expressions of interest and have some conversations.
Talking is almost always a good place to start, so
please take the call Luapa, who is an incredible part

(02:34):
of our country and one that deserves to be thriving.
For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
to News Talks it be from five am weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.