{"id":52850,"date":"2025-09-30T21:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T21:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/52850\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T21:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T21:41:09","slug":"quake-prone-building-rule-change-could-be-big-win-for-chateau-tongariro-mayor-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/52850\/","title":{"rendered":"Quake-prone building rule change could be big win for Chateau Tongariro, mayor says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Weston<\/p>\n

\nRuapehu mayor Weston Kirton will present a Save our Chateau petition to parliament on Tuesday.
\nPhoto: Jimmy Ellingham \/ RNZ\n<\/p>\n

Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton has welcomed the government’s overhaul of the earthquake-prone building system, saying it could be a big win for the famous Chateau Tongariro hotel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 96-year-old building was closed in February 2023 due to its earthquake risk, leaving a big hole in the local economy.<\/p>\n

It was transferred to the Department of Conservation (DOC), because it sits on conservation land. The department was working on advice to Cabinet about its future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Under the government’s proposals, buildings under three storeys and in towns with under 10,000 people would no longer need strengthening, remediation or warning notices – and could be removed from the earthquake-prone register after having the facade secured.<\/p>\n

Kirton said the government’s proposals were practical, realistic and potentially a huge win for both the chateau and Ruapehu’s small towns.<\/p>\n

\"DOC<\/p>\n

\nThe Chateau closed at the beginning of 2023.
\nPhoto: Jimmy Ellingham \/ RNZ\n<\/p>\n

“These proposed changes introduce a much fairer balance between the costs of strengthening work and the actual risks that earthquake-prone buildings pose.<\/p>\n

“They will help make remediation work more affordable, economic and achievable, which is exactly what our communities need.”<\/p>\n

Kirton said Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk had indicated that a targeted retrofit approach on projects like the chateau could reduce strengthening costs by around 20 percent on average.<\/p>\n

“For the chateau, where estimates for a complete refurbishment are up to $100+ million, this is huge,” Kirton said.<\/p>\n

“It will significantly lower the financial risks for potential investors.”<\/p>\n

Kirton said the chateau was a treasured part of the area’s heritage, and had been a vital contributor to its economy.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\nA complete refurbishments would likely cost more than $100m.
\nPhoto: Sharon Brettkelly\/The Detail\n<\/p>\n

“We need rules that support its restoration and future, rather than stand in the way.”<\/p>\n

Kirton said talks were being held with a New Zealand-based investor and hoped the change in earthquake strengthening rules would help get the project over the line.<\/p>\n

However, the earthquake strengthening rules weren’t the only challenge potential investors in the chateau faced.<\/p>\n

Kirton said the hotel sat on conservation land, and another barrier was how long a lease arrangement could take place for under the DOC estate.<\/p>\n

He said to get the chateau back to its former glory significant investment was needed, and that required long term investment.<\/p>\n

He said talks with local iwi hap\u016b and the Department of Conservation to see “whether or not there’s a way forward for an investor to actually invest that amount of money”.<\/p>\n

He said they also expected more clarity by the end of the year from government.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ruapehu mayor Weston Kirton will present a Save our Chateau petition to parliament on Tuesday. Photo: Jimmy Ellingham…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-52850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-podcasts","13":"tag-public-radio","14":"tag-radio-new-zealand","15":"tag-rnz","16":"tag-top-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-topnews","19":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}