Yes, you read that right. Thredbo have submitted a Development Application to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment alongside a Statement of Environment Effects in the hope of securing approval for a new detachable gondola to replace the Merritts double chairlift.
Construction is to, if approved, take effect from October this year for operation from June next year. According to the Statement of Environmental Effects by Dabine Planning the mid station would be relocated up hill to the north of High Noon allowing skiers and boarders to upload back to Merritts or download to Valley Terminal.
The report states that “The proposed top station will be located within the same location as the existing top station with the Ski Patrol hut to be demolished and relocated into a new building to the north on the edge of the ski run. The proposed bottom station will be located back at the old double chair bottom station location, which was moved in 2002/03 further up the hill.”
It’s a long time coming for the Merritts double chairlift which was first constructed back in 1967 making it the oldest lift currently at Thredbo. No doubt the chairs themselves will be hotly coveted items for those seeking some historical alpine memorabilia should the gondola approval go through.
You can read the full report at the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment public link.
More to come.
