Charlotte Pass ski village has accepted a 28-month extension on their existing lease with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in a deal dubbed a short-term win for patrons, staff and leasees.
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The agreement comes after Charlotte Pass management refused to accept the same extension offer in June and accused the government of treating them "unfairly" after refusing to renew their existing lease, which was established in 1974 and is due to expire on June 30.
Charlotte Pass manager Lachlan Maclean said the NSW government were still refusing to enter direct negotiations for a new lease and no reason had been provided as to why negotiations had been abandoned in March.
An Office of Environment and Heritage spokeswoman said the extension allowed the resort to continue operating although an "open and transparent expression of interest process to enter a new long-term lease" would still be conducted prior to October 31, 2017.
"There is nothing in the situation with Charlotte Pass Village Pty Ltd that would support directly negotiating with only one commercial party for a new long-term lease," she said.
Mr Maclean said the temporary extension was a welcome development although it did not resolve management's concerns about the future of the resort beyond 2017.
"All they [NSW government] can do is delay this further so they have given us an extension on our existing lease," he said.
"It makes it difficult for us to make major improvements as nothing major can really be done in a three-year window and it becomes about maintaining rather than improving the resort.
"We've got meetings planned and more deep and meaningful conversations ahead with the government."
Mr Maclean said there was no precedent for an open tender process at Charlotte Pass during its 40 years of operation and the actions of the NPWS had left management confused.
