New hut revives historic Canterbury ski slope
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A new hut being built at an old skifield aims to bring visitors back to Mt Potts in Canterbury for skiing.
Alpine Huts Limited is building an eight-bunk hut on Mt Potts in a bid to boost local ski tourism.
Alpine Huts director Tom Evatt hopes to have the hut ready for public use this winter.
“I’ve imagined it more for ski touring but it’s a hut at the end of the day and will be used by anyone who wants to head into the mountains for hunting, hiking, or skiing.”
Evatt was motivated by the demand created by similar alpine huts on Glenmore Station in the Cass Valley, out the back of Lake Tekapo.
“As ski touring’s popularity has grown the demand for accommodation has increased because it’s pretty hard-core winter camping.”
Mt Potts is an ideal location and viable as a backcountry ski area, Evatt said.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) approved a concession application in September last year for the hut and associated structures for accommodation at the Erewhon Park skifield on Mt Potts, which had been established in 1964, for recreational backcountry ski touring.
The site is listed as a ski area in DOC’s conservation management strategy and was used by a heli-skiing company until 2011.
However, it has been abandoned as a ski area.
In his application, Evatt stated it would be “uneconomic to open and operate a traditional skifield at Mt Potts”.
“There is an opportunity to reinvent Mt Potts as a backcountry ski area destination for ski touring and split boarding with minimal investment and infrastructure.”
Snow sports opportunities “are increasingly under threat due to the effects of climate change and the failing economics of existing club fields”.
“A fresh approach needs to be taken to continue to provide snow sport opportunities which is precautionary in so far as any infrastructure maybe ultimately be removed and is light in terms of its environmental footprint.”
He has been granted the lease for the construction of one permanent hut – a 19m2 structure with an additional 2.2m2 deck, as well as two seasonal temporary winter yurts, toilet facilities, and a storage shed.
The yurts will be erected on permanent timber decks in the autumn for the winter and removed in the spring.
The storage shed will house the temporary accommodation in the summer, as well as firewood and hut supplies.
The accommodation is for public use and will use a website, also under construction, for online bookings and paying the hut fee, Evatt said.
There is an existing access road which allows people to access the area on foot or using e-bikes, or people can be lifted in by helicopter, he said.
Share your most delicious (but affordable!) go-to meal...
Winter is knocking at the door and the cost of living has already made itself at home. So let's help each other out by sharing your meal ideas that don't break the bank.
Comment below with your go-to meals that are delicious and affordable.
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column of your local paper.
And the 2024 Prospa Local Business Hero is...
A huge congratulations to mother and son duo, Mary and Sam Danielson from The Puketapu Hotel.
The votes for all finalists have been tallied and they have been chosen by Neighbourly members across the country as the Prospa Local Business Hero of 2024.
The Puketapu Hotel was nominated by a local called Margaret and the nomination reads:
'On Feb 14, 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle flooded many of the rural areas. Puketapu Hotel went under perhaps half a meter of water. However, immediately Mary Danielson and her son, Sam Danielson, along with their loyal staff pulled it together to cook copious amounts of food that without electricity would have been wasted. Throughout the years many of us have been treated with a pub gathering where we can reconnect and a free meal. At Christmas there was Santa, games, gifts for kids, donated patchwork for adults, an ice cream truck and lots of camaraderie.
This February on the cyclone anniversary, they again pulled out the stops to give hundreds of us a special night. We are all tired of the cyclone cleanup and they understood that it was needed.'
Such a deserving business and team, well done Mary and Sam. And thank you to all those who voted!
Pilots snub Ashburton Airport after fee hike
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Pilots are opting for paddocks over Ashburton Airport after the council made it one of the "most expensive small provincial airfields" to train and fly at, users say.
The Ashburton District Council, which owns the recreational, grass-runway airport, hiked and changed the fees for pilots in a bid to increase profits.
It was part of a 30-year plan to reduce the burden on ratepayers having to subsidise the airfield.
However, the council has been told it has had the opposite effect, with a drop in planes using the airport since the fees were introduced at the start of the 2023-24 financial year.
Several submitters to the long-term plan said the airport lost 1700 aircraft movements in the last year because of the higher fees and reputational damage.
Pilot Michael Oakley said bad management decisions and poor communication from the council had caused the marked reduction in landings, and something needed to change before it’s too late.
“The decisions that are being made by this council are being talked about all over New Zealand and it is having a rippling effect across airfield users.”
Another submitter, Michael Thomas, described a “toxic situation” developing at the airport and suggested the management of the airfield be taken over by a user-group committee – like the boards that run some of the district’s halls and reserves.
“There are empty hangers in Ashburton right now because people are going.”
Pilots were landing in private strips in paddocks instead, he said.
Submitter Neville Bailey said that last year the fees were raised significantly, the bulk annual landing fee was abolished, and a touch-and-go fee was introduced.
The changes made Ashburton "one of the most expensive small provincial airfields to train and fly at in New Zealand”.
The result had been a significant drop off in landings and the fee structure needed to be reassessed, he said.
Mid Canterbury Aero Club Graham Closey said the council inadvertently decreased the revenue from aircraft and is concerned the proposed changes would make things worse.
“It needs to be fair for everybody and reasonable because there is only a certain price point you can go to before people start turning their nose up.”
Club secretary and treasurer David Wright argued the community benefit from the airfield made it “reasonable to ask the community to contribute”.
Ashburton Aviation Museum’s Owen Moore did not want the museum based at the airport to be seen as a cash cow.
The museum was concerned the council’s pursuit of making the airport operate at no cost to the ratepayers “could see the museum as a cash cow and up the rent and rates to levels that make the museum unsustainable”.
Their storage hangar was facing a rental increase of 75%, he said.
As one of the premier tourist attractions in the district and in recognition of what they do for the community, Moore wants acceptable rates locked into the long-term plan to provide certainty.
Business support group manager Leanne Macdonald said the council “don’t feel it is a toxic environment”.
“Our aim has always been to balance the needs of a small user group against the amount of general rates required to top up and operate the airport.
“We all want a vibrant airport that can grow in an orderly way, without relying too much on ratepayers.”
The council will address the claims made in the hearings and any changes to the fee structure during its long-term plan deliberations this week.
Loading…
