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Download AudioGreens co-leader, Marama Davidson says is welcoming the possible purchase of the Ruapehu Alpine Lifts assets by mana whenua.
The company was put into liquidation last week after a vote of creditors failed to get enough support for a rescue plan involving the split of the Whakapapa and Turoa skifield businesses.
Since then the Government has offered the liquidators $5m to ensure this year’s ski season on the mountain can go ahead, and Ngati Tuwharetoa ariki Sir Tumu te Heuheu lodged an expression of interest in the business.
Ms Davidson says that’s an important step forward.
“I have heard the voices of iwi and mana whenua of that rohe whose first and foremost priority is the well-being of the maunga so I’m looking at our industries as a whole and whether we are protecting the maunga and its ecosystems. That is where the mana whenua have landed,” she says.
The final decision on the sale will be made by the liquidator PwC New Zealand, but iwi and hapu must be consulted on the transfer of Department of Conservation concessions needed by any new business.
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