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thewanakasun.co.nz
THUR 20.06.19 - WED 26.06.19
DELIVERED AND FREE
EDITION 927
Cardrona offers $7m for Treble Cone Emma Conyngham
editor@thewanakasun.co.nz
O
On Tuesday June 18, Cardrona Alpine Resort signed a conditional agreement to buy the Treble Cone Ski Area. Cardrona is now in a threemonth due diligence period before going unconditional on the stunning, but struggling, Treble Cone. If successful, Treble Cone would be owned and managed by Cardrona Resort — which along with Real Journeys, Go Orange, International Antarctic Centre, and Canyon Food and Brewery is part of the newly formed holding company Wayfare Group. Treble Cone has some of the most
spectacular scenery in New Zealand, and offers challenging runs for seasoned skiers and riders; but has struggled to make financial headway. Don Fletcher, chair of the Board of Directors for Treble Cone said, “They [Cardrona] approached us with a formal letter of interest three to four weeks ago. I would say they’d been looking at us for a while before that though.” “From my point of view, we’re an unlisted public company… so there are rules about how we deal with the approach and they are quite formal under the code. So once Cardrona made that approach we had to act on it and make a determination as to whether we put it to the shareholders. In summary we felt it was a good enough deal
to put to the shareholders.” In a letter to shareholders, Fletcher confirmed that Cardrona Alpine Resort Limited (CARL) offered $7 million for the assets for the company and they have “offered each of those company shareholders who are entitled to ski passes at Treble Cone a replacement 20-year ski pass to Cardrona Alpine Resort, Soho Ski Area (when developed), and to Treble Cone. There will be one new ski pass for each current pass. The ski passes will be fully transferable between seasons at the discretion of the pass holder.” The letter continued, “The Heads of Agreement is subject to conditions including completion of formal Continued on page 3
PHOTO: Treble Cone
Council applies for consent to dump sewage into freshwater supply for next 35 years Emma Conyngham
editor@thewanakasun.co.nz
Q
LDC applied for resource consent to authorise intermittent sewage overflows to the Otago Regional Council (ORC) on Friday April 5, which has now become publicly notified. Bullock Creek, Eely Point, Glendhu Bay, the Clutha River, Luggate Creek and Lake Hawea have all been identified as sites where Queenstown Lakes District Council is planning to discharge intermittent raw sewage overflows, with Bullock Creek, Eely Point and Luggate Creek all identified at the highest risk for discharge overflow. The application states, “Public perception of raw wastewater directly entering a freshwater environment from an overflow is not anticipated to be favourable or acceptable to those that live, work and play in the Queenstown Lakes District.” The choice for Council appears to be between two evils; backflow of sewage into
homes, or the lesser evil of discharge overflow into the district’s freshwater supply. Peter Hansby QLDC general manager property and infrastructure said that these overflows are not due to capacity but intermittently caused by things like fats, sanitary items, wet wipes, and building materials incorrectly being put into the system, or from root intrusion from trees growing near pipes. “If these overflows can’t happen at these locations [manholes and pumpstations] there is a risk that wastewater could blow back into private property through toilets, showers, and sinks. This has the potential to result in greater direct adverse impacts to human health than if a release occurs at a manhole or pump station.” Hansby insists this is “not a choice between two evils. It’s about ensuring that if an overflow does happen, we are held accountable for ensuring it is managed in a way that is best practice and minimises the effects on the environment.” The council's data shows around 200
overflows have happened over a three-year period. In 2018, the number of overflows was 50 percent higher than each of the previous two years. The overflows are nothing new and have been happening for many years — albeit unconsented. In 2018 QLDC was fined $37,500 for allowing wastewater to enter the Kawerau River. By getting consent for the overflows, critics have questioned whether Council isn’t intent of fixing the overflow problem, they are simply avoiding any further implications from allowing it to happen. Don Robertson, chair of Guardians of Lake Wanaka, said “Any consented sewage release to waterways would need to be as a result of major failure and as a last resort. Any consent would need to include powerful disincentives to pollute and equally powerful incentives to perform at a very high standard. I hope we don’t end up with a consent to pollute.” Fish and Game Councillor, Ray Grubb
said, “One of the major issues is that QLDC does not have major holding tanks at any point of emergency discharge. A while back there was a brief discharge of 300 litres of raw sewage at Cromwell when a holding tank would have prevented it going into the lake. If the ORC is serious about mitigation then they would insist on holding tanks consistent with historical/potential discharge at each point.” QLDC is applying for a consent duration of 35 years to reflect the “nature of the discharges and the receiving environments, and to ensure consistency and security in future asset and financial planning including the compliance monitoring of the Network Consent by QLDC and ORC.” Submissions on the application must be received by Otago Regional Council and the applicant (Queenstown Lakes District Council) no later than 5pm on Friday, July 12, 2019. The full version of this story is available on www.thewanakasun.co.nz
Wanaka 12 Elderberry Crescent
Wanaka 2 Highfield Ridge
Wanaka 15 Rowan Court
Price by Negotiation
For Sale $2,050,000 bayleys.co.nz/224725
Price by Negotiation
bayleys.co.nz/224662
Sharon Donnelly P 0508 DONNELLY
bayleys.co.nz/224729
No.
E sharon.donnelly@bayleys.co.nz
MAT ANDREWS REAL ESTATE LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008
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