Would-be RAL buyer says insane conditions mean the bid is dead

For the last 16 months insolvent, not-for-profit operator RAL has been kept afloat with $20m of taxpayer money,(Image: RAL)

Staff reporters

Thu, 08 Feb 2024

The Crown’s preferred bidder for the insolvent Whakapapa skifield has walked away from negotiations, throwing the future of skiing in the North Island, and tourism in the central region, into further doubt.”It’s a dead bid ... there’s inadequate [crown] funding,” Tom Elworthy told the Herald.He said a combination of factors now make a commercial business case for the operation impossible: the untenably short licence to operate the ski field on offer by the Department of Conservation (DoC) - the skifield is in the T...

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