Ruapehu mayor delivers 15,000-signature Chateau Tongariro petition to Parliament
Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton (second from right) alongside (from left) Te Korowai o Wainuiārua chairman Aiden Gilbert, Rangitīkei MP Suze Redmayne and Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger outside Parliament.
A 15,000-signature petition demanding action on the Chateau Tongariro Hotel has reached Parliament, with Ruapehu’s mayor saying an investor is willing to “foot the bill” for a restoration.
The petition, started by Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton last year, requests that “the House of Representatives urge the Government to act quickly to save the Chateau Tongariro Hotel, restoring it to its former glory”.
It said the hotel served as a centrepiece of cultural heritage, economic prosperity and tourism excellence.
“The future of the Chateau Tongariro Hotel hangs in the balance, with negotiations under way and decisions pending from government officials.
“There is a strong desire from the local community, as well as from people across New Zealand and around the world, to see this iconic building saved.”
The chateau closed indefinitely in February 2023, after former operator KAH New Zealand relinquished its lease and handed responsibility back to the Department of Conservation (DoC).
According to KAH, there had been poor snow and a slow tourist recovery after Covid-19, and the building failed to meet safety standards.
Kirton said the petition had been shared “absolutely everywhere”.
“Even though I’ve been driving this from a council perspective, it’s about the whole community, with local iwi involved as well.
“We have one investor, and probably others as well, who are saying, ‘We’ll foot the bill, but we need room to actually get a return’.
“It needs to be in the 100-plus year [DoC concession] bracket.”
Whakapapa Holdings has also lodged an expression of interest with DoC.
Te Korowai o Wainuiārua chairman Aidan Gilbert was at Parliament when the petition was handed over yesterday.
“For us, it’s about keeping an eye on things until such time as [Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith and Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka] see fit to enact the Tongariro National Park [Treaty] settlement,” he said.
Gilbert said the Government needed to make a decision on the chateau, and there was a cost to keeping it in abeyance.
NZME reported in March 2024 that keeping it in its current state was expected to cost taxpayers $2.2 million for the 2024/25 financial year.
“This is still hanging around in the air, so to speak, or on the mountain,” Gilbert said.
“We’ve got Weston passing around the football on the issue, and I’m going along [to Parliament] to see where that’s going to land.”
Budget 2025 listed expenses and capital around the chateau as a fiscal risk, and options were being investigated for its future.
But there was “uncertainty around any future fiscal implications for the Crown”, it said.
Rangitikei MP Suze Redmayne presented the petition to the Petitions Committee before petitioners met Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee.
“When you leave a building unoccupied and unattended, it tends to decay quite badly, rather than when it’s lived in and loved,” Redmayne told the Chronicle.
“The Government is required to work through the complexities involved, in terms of iwi and the land being DoC land.
“The other thing is the concession process, because nobody is going to take it on if there’s only a short one granted.”
Redmayne said the building was an important part of the district - “great for jobs, great for economic development and growth”.
“My dream would be to see it run as a great hotel again.”
Kirton said his preferred investor, who was yet to be publicly named, was there for legacy rather than money-making, and their primary interest was the building and enterprise, not the land.
“We’ve been successful in getting buy-in from the community and the rest of the country.
“They are saying ‘this is something we treasure’.
“If someone does have the balance sheet, let’s give them support.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.