Bogong: the ageing beauty with no suitors

WHAT do you do with an ageing alpine village that’s past its use-by date? That’s the problem its owner AGL Hydro is grappling with as it tries to offload Bogong Village to a government department or commercial entity willing to take it on. Located halfway between Mount Beauty and the snowfields resort village of Falls Creek, the village built on crown land is a vestige of the 1930s-40s, a collection of pre-fab houses and cottages built by the original owners, the State Electricity Commission, for the workers who would construct the nearby dam and hydro-electric plant that still generates power for the state’s electricity network today. The infrastructure and services of the 80 year-old village buildings is ageing and costly to maintain, let alone replace. Last week AGL hosted two Bogong Village Future Transition Forums to explain its options for what it desperately hopes will be a process of ‘transitioning the village to a new operator’. In a statement, a company spokesman said it recognises the legacy and importance of Bogong Village to locals and visitors, and ‘remains committed to working closely with the community throughout this transition’. “We are going to maintain the village as it currently stands, but we are not in the business of accommodation management,” the spokesman told Myrtleford Times/Alpine Observer. “We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t care about the village. “There is the business aspect and economic drivers that we have to face as an ASX listed company, but there is also the social license aspect to operate and be a good neighbour depends on us doing the right thing. “We want to make sure that whatever we do will be respectful and acknowledge the views that we’ve been presented with by the community.” The AGL Hydro Community Dialogue Group will be set up to explore ways the company can engage more broadly with the Mount Beauty community. However, community and business leaders have been critical of the company for taking three years to consult with locals. AGL admits it determined the existing arrangements in place for managing the crown lease associated with Bogong Village ‘were not sustainable’ in 2018. However, understanding the importance of the village to the community, it provided an extended licence period of two years on the leased accommodation, which expired on January 31 this year. Since then, AGL has been in discussion with State Government departments and Alpine Shire Council, as well as the unnamed private sector companies to explore ‘future possibilities for the village and its ongoing management and operation’.

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