In the past seniors over 65 years received free entry to Falls Creek resort. Suddenly this has been discontinued and replaced by a 10% discount. A cost increase for seniors of $310 for the season. The only publicity about this I know about this is on the resort entry page of the Falls Creek website. Most seniors would not be going there as in the past they did not need to pay resort entry. Without a lot of publicity over the next month or so a lot of seniors will get a double whammy. They will have to pay resort entry and will miss out on the early bird discount as they did not know that the free entry had been discontinued. Some seniors will have paid a deposit on a seniors lift pass and made other arrangements and commitments in the reasonable expectation that the concessional entry would continue or substantially continue and not be almost wiped out.
The free entry may seem generous but when you consider that almost no where else in the world do you have to pay to enter a ski resort, and so much of the original basic infrastructure that visitors use at Falls Creek was government and tax payer funded. The SEC built the roads and the CRB sealed them. The SEC built the power network, and a combination of SEC, and government grants and subsidies over 30 years funded much of the initial car parks, sewerage system, public toilets and shelters. Eg. Windy Corner shelter was mainly government funded, a similar shelter near Haley's is now used by FCRM, the bowl public shelter was tax payer funded as was the now demolished one at the Gully Carpark (the space now used for helicopters). Also skiers like me have have been paying entry charges for over 45 years so it is not entirely unreasonable that we get it free after 65. That said I would be happy to pay for seniors entry but I think to replace free entry with a 10% discount is an insult. I think that at least 50% discount is reasonable.
Whatever charge is reasonable for seniors one aspect is certain for sure in my opinion this whole change is ill-conceived, ill-advised and hastily and improperly implemented.
This is too big an increase in one step and far too little advance notice. A change as radical as this should have been pre-warned at least last July so seniors had time to plan and adapt. I put it to you that this whole change is ill-conceived, ill-advised and hastily and improperly implemented.
Senior skiers who are unhappy with this change should email the Minister of Ageing David Davis who is the minister to fight on your behalf email Minister.Davis@health.vic.gov.au
you should also lodge a complaint with the ombudsman at http://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au
At the very least seniors should be asking for;
1. Defer any change to the free concessional entry for seniors until the 2014 year.
2. The Alpine Resorts Co-ordinating Council should do an evaluation and review as to the level of discount provided to seniors. Any level of discount to seniors less than 50% in the first year of change should require a rigorous justification, impact assessment, and post audit review.
The free entry may seem generous but when you consider that almost no where else in the world do you have to pay to enter a ski resort, and so much of the original basic infrastructure that visitors use at Falls Creek was government and tax payer funded. The SEC built the roads and the CRB sealed them. The SEC built the power network, and a combination of SEC, and government grants and subsidies over 30 years funded much of the initial car parks, sewerage system, public toilets and shelters. Eg. Windy Corner shelter was mainly government funded, a similar shelter near Haley's is now used by FCRM, the bowl public shelter was tax payer funded as was the now demolished one at the Gully Carpark (the space now used for helicopters). Also skiers like me have have been paying entry charges for over 45 years so it is not entirely unreasonable that we get it free after 65. That said I would be happy to pay for seniors entry but I think to replace free entry with a 10% discount is an insult. I think that at least 50% discount is reasonable.
Whatever charge is reasonable for seniors one aspect is certain for sure in my opinion this whole change is ill-conceived, ill-advised and hastily and improperly implemented.
This is too big an increase in one step and far too little advance notice. A change as radical as this should have been pre-warned at least last July so seniors had time to plan and adapt. I put it to you that this whole change is ill-conceived, ill-advised and hastily and improperly implemented.
Senior skiers who are unhappy with this change should email the Minister of Ageing David Davis who is the minister to fight on your behalf email Minister.Davis@health.vic.gov.au
you should also lodge a complaint with the ombudsman at http://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au
At the very least seniors should be asking for;
1. Defer any change to the free concessional entry for seniors until the 2014 year.
2. The Alpine Resorts Co-ordinating Council should do an evaluation and review as to the level of discount provided to seniors. Any level of discount to seniors less than 50% in the first year of change should require a rigorous justification, impact assessment, and post audit review.
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