$100m ski area plans moving apace
NZSki, which also owns Coronet Peak and Mt Hutt, is setting aside finance for the venture, which has been selected for the government's new fast-track process.
Once completed, its skiing and snowboarding terrain will likely more than double to about 900ha.
The Fast-track Approvals Bill is expected to speed up the decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects considered to have strong regional or national benefits.
NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said detail studies for the project were being carried out with the goal to get the full application in by the end of this year.
"We're on one of the schedules for the Fast-track Bill for an expansion to The Remarkables. So we are working very hard on that. Locally this area is known as the Doolans and that involves a gondola that will go all the way from the existing base facility up over a ridge and into the next basin, snowmaking, trails, and then, of course, we have to look at base building expansion because we will have more people coming up to enjoy that other valley as well."
A start to construction would depend on the application process, he said.
"All going well it will be the following summer when we would like to start to do the enabling work, which is starting to get the roads cut into so we can get up into over the next valley and perhaps doing some initial construction of the base station.
"I would imagine a gondola of this scale, which is 2.3kmlong, would take two summers to construct."
The Doolans' higher altitude to the southeast of the main runs would retain more snow for longer to provide insurance against climate change, he said.
Within its existing scope, the project is expected to raise the mountain to an international ski destination, generate an estimated $350m in the regional economy and create more than 2500 new jobs.
To proceed, the company needs to get a new concession agreement from the Department of Conservation, gain resource consents from the district and regional councils and carry out consultation with stakeholders including iwi.
Mr Anderson said the fast-track process would provide the opportunity for all the consents to be processed simultaneously via the Environmental Protection Agency.
It will be the company's largest project since $90m was spent on the last expansion at The Remarkables over the past 10 years.
"This expansion will be upwards of $100m. We are owned by a local family and they are really ambitious to expand the ski areas and keep on doing what we can."
Sir John Davies is the founder of NZSki under the parent company Trojan Holdings. Trojan's diversified businesses are mainly in the lower South and include the three ski areas, The Hermitage Hotel at Mount Cook Village, guided walks on the Milford and Routeburn Tracks as well as property and farming interests.
He has built up the business since starting out with Whakatipu Transport, which merged into Northern Southland Transport Holdings.
Mr Anderson said Sir John liked building businesses and making products better and was motivated by putting money back into them.
Ongoing projects would continue at the other ski areas with a big focus on renewing or upgrading snowmaking equipment each summer.
"The new technology for the new snowguns is far more efficient and produces more snow for lower cost, so that's a big push for us."
Snowmaking at Mt Hutt was continuing under low humidity with temperatures at 5°C.
tim.cronshaw@odt.co.nz
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