On 18 November Life Pass Holders of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts received a letter from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Kānoa - Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit. Robust discussion, reactions and feedback have been shared among the participants on the Save Mt Ruapehu Facebook group (2,200 members) and the Mt Ruapehu Shareholders and Life Pass Holders group (3,300 members).
We've looked for a way that we can collectively respond as a group to MBIE that's simple for you to engage with and sends a clear message. It's important to also note that the MBIE survey is non-binding and so in short, our recommendation is to:
Vote "Yes" to the MBIE life pass holder proposal (or if you are not a life pass holder, then positively engage with the PwC run crowdfunding survey for other mountain stakeholders). That said, please only vote yes if you are sincere in your intention to financially contribute at some level. This keeps us all at the negotiating table.
Sign the Petition to MBIE to request that they engage more closely with the mountain community and be flexible about the exact dollar amounts, timelines and future structure: Petition to MBIE & ANZ Regarding Mt Ruapehu Skifields
MBIE are looking for confidence that sufficient funds can be raised from this group and the wider community before they invest further time & effort engaging on what that future could be. Therefore, a vote for "Yes" sends a clear signal that we have significant interest in contributing financially. However, it is vitally important that we also all send a very clear message to MBIE on our broader aspirations for the mountain beyond just paying the "sticker price" as asked. To date, MBIE representatives have not actively engaged with representatives of the mountain community, nor attended the creditors committee meetings. This means we have not been able to discuss any alternate structures to achieve the investment or put forward your views. Therefore, we have created a quick petition which we would ask you take a moment to read and sign your name to. This petition will help send a message that we as a group believe there are alternate structures to achieve the proposed refinancing, and put forward the broad community view on important issues, such as community representation in the governance of any new skifield entity. When signing the petition, we'd also encourage you to tick the box that shares your name so that this can be matched with the creditors register - bringing more credibility to the numbers. Thanks, The Save Mt Ruapehu Skifields Group https://www.savemtruapehu.org.nz
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