The sale of the Snow Farm cross-country ski facility on the Pisa Range to a charitable trust appears to be progressing well, although the parties involved in the deal were tight-lipped, as a deadline for change of ownership came and went.
The Snow Farm, on the Pisa Range, was developed by Mary and John Lee over the past 22 years and was put up for sale to enable them to retire. The Pisa Alpine Charitable Trust was formed to take over the field, assisted by the Lees, who rejected other offers and gave the trust - their preferred buyer - until the end of September to come up with funding.
Mrs Lee told the Otago Daily Times things were "looking very hopeful", but declined to comment further.
Trust chairman Peter Soundy, of Arrowtown, also declined to comment on the sale yesterday, other than to say things were "progressing well".
Under the proposed agreement, the land owner would be the Queenstown Lakes District Council, which would hold about 310ha as a public reserve.
The council would not be responsible for ongoing costs, just the land purchase and establishment of reserve status.
The trust would be the leaseholder and would fund the facilities and operate the ski area, protecting New Zealand's only cross-country skiing facility from private developers.
QLDC community services general manager Paul Wilson said negotiations were still proceeding and he had no authority to comment.
The Snow Farm land had an agreed valuation - between the Lees and the QLDC - of about $2 million.
By June this year, the trust had received a $150,000 grant from the Otago Community Trust, a $412,500 grant from the QLDC and $425,000 from the Central Lakes Trust. It also had funding applications before the New Zealand Lotteries Grants Board and several other national trusts. However, Mr Soundy would not confirm whether any of these applications had been successful.
