A plan to replace an almost 40-year-old chairlift at Queenstown’s The Remarkables this summer hinges on Department of Conservation granting NZSki a 40-year concession.
NZSki CEO Paul Anderson says they’re waiting for DoC to say ‘yay’ or ‘nay’, and hoping to have an answer, either way, within the next month.
Provided its approved, NZSki’s application with Queenstown’s council for the new chairlift and associated works at Shadow Basin, can progress.
Part of a $20 million-plus programme of work, Anderson says the new 47 six-seater Doppelmayer D-line chairlift’s planned to replace
the 38-year-old chairlift in play there, on a different alignment.
Their application says the work will require vegetation clearance totalling 8968 square metres, affecting eight ‘‘cushionfield’’ areas, 16 tussock areas and four ‘‘fellfield’’ areas.
To mitigate effects, e3Scientific has recommended — and NZSki will implement — specific measures, expected to form the basis of consent conditions.
But the application says vegetation clearance will have less than minor adverse effects on water quality and the hydrological function of the catchment, negligible effects on soil conservation, and low landscape and visual effects, which will only be visible up close when there’s no snow on the mountain.
NZSki’s application notes there are no practical alternatives to avoid vegetation clearance, and that can’t be avoided if the Shadow Basin chair’s to be replaced.
While replacing the chairlift with ‘‘like for like’’ was considered, it’s not practical.
‘‘This is primarily because the existing Shadow Basin chairlift is old technology that is no longer produced and cannot practically be maintained into the future.
‘‘The proposed new chairlift provides a modern, safer and more efficient design that makes replacement of the existing chairlift with
like-for-like untenable from a practical and logistical point of view.’’
Anderson tells Mountain Scene additional snowmaking facilities are also planned in Shadow Basin — at present, there’s no snowmaking
past mid-station, meaning that area opens late and often closes early.
Should everything go to plan, Anderson says the work will start this summer.
