AGL holds a 99-year head lease for the village, situated halfway between Mount Beauty and Falls Creek, which was built to house workers for the Kiewa Hydro-electric Scheme in the 1940s.

In March, the energy giant announced it would seek to acquire underleases, but gave no answers to 26 cabin owners about their long-term plans.

A $90,000 offer has been made for all cabins, despite many being purchased a decade ago for at least $100,000 and improved over time.

Peter Krien is among the cabin owners who have rallied together to push back against AGL, and says the company has thrown down an ultimatum.

“They say they don’t want to be in the accommodation business, and so it seems they find it necessary to get us out of the accommodation business as well, even though we’ve run it quite successfully,” he said.

“Up until quite recently, AGL has supported this state of affairs continuing.

“For reasons unclear to us, AGL now sees the future without us.

“Who do they want to sell it to? What’s the big secret?

“They’ve threatened ‘be mindful of the fact if you don’t sell to us and exercise your right to see out your lease, you will be up for capital expenses’.”

Mr Krien, like many of the underlessees, bought into the village in the late 1990s on a 30 year lease, with an option to renew for another 30 years.

The relationship between AGL and the management board representing cabin owners has run largely smoothly until now.

In a presentation to the cabin owners in April, AGL outlined the operational budget would cost $450,000 in the next year, with further increases to come, and $250,000 would need to be spent every five on vegetation control and bushfire mitigation.

They surmised given the costs, a “dispersed ownership tenure structure becomes economically untenable”.

Kim McKeown, who runs the holiday accomodation for Bogong Pty Ltd which all cabin owners have a share in, questioned how AGL could justify these costs, considering what has been delivered in the past.

“They came up with anything they could have possibly charged us for; it was ridiculous,” she said.

“They wanted to wrap this up by the end of the financial year, and they started this in March.”

Ms McKeown can accept bookings until January 31, but beyond that is an unknown.

“I already have people asking about Autumn and Spring bookings for next year,” she said.

“I did a few things to attract cyclists last year – developed a bike bay and hit social media – and you could make this a go-able business all year round and it would have been so exciting to have the chance to do that.”

Despite the bombshell from AGL, the owner of Mount Beauty restaurant Flour Plus Water David Batson has signed a lease to operate the tavern at Bogong Village, which has been closed for two years.

“We’ve taken it on until January 31 and if AGL extend the date, we may extend the date of the lease for the tavern, depending on how it goes,” he said.

What disturbs Ms McKeown more than the lost opportunity at Bogong is what could become of the village.

“You can say it won’t be shut down, but once it’s sold it’s out of your hands – who’s going to say it won’t be bulldozed?” she said.

“You can’t guarantee it’s going to be available in the future for the general public.”

When Sonia Peace’s daughter Denique lost her leg in a boating accident at Mulwala in 2014, skiing and the freedom it offered became an even bigger part of their lives.

The comfortable and quaint cabin 33 at Bogong Village has provided an escape from the daily grind for the Yarrawonga family since 2007.

“We stayed in the cottages and when one came up for sale, we thought we’d buy it,” Mrs Peace said.

“We visited regularly, the kids were all brought up here, we taught ourselves how to ski first and then taught our kids.

“Now my son is in uni, bringing his friends up who have never been to the snow before because they can’t afford to.

“Our cabin in a way has made it affordable for us to get to the snow.

“We didn’t buy it to make money, we love the place.”

This sentiment is shared by thousands who have been enraptured by the fiery display in Autumn, the white hills in Winter and the calm expanse of Lake Guy.

Many ashes have been scattered there, and only this year a wooden chair dedicated to a loved one lost through cancer has appeared near the Peace family cabin.

For many of the cabin owners, a price can’t be put on what Bogong Village offers.

But they say they don’t have much choice in the matter, as AGL pushes harder and harder to exit the village and take the holidaymakers with it.

It’s not the first time the village’s future has been in doubt – in the 1990s a threat of it being shut prompted current owners to buy in, and some cabins were destroyed in the 2003 fires.

“If someone has it in their mind to mow this down, as they did 20 odd years ago, that would be criminal,” said Peter Krien, of cabin 29.

“Many of the people who spent holidays here as children still come back to visit.

“This is a historic part of Victoria.”

What AGL is offering to underlease holders of holiday cabins in Bogong Village “is not fair market value” and the group will keep pushing for a better resolution.

Cabin owner Andrew Lewis, who works for Colliers International and has experience valuing properties, has been acting as a negotiator for the group.

“Their valuer has put $90,000 on every cabin, whether it’s overlooking the lake and fully-renovated or it’s up the back and never been touched – you can’t tell me that’s like for like,” he said.

“AGL has written me two letters basically saying they have no intention of negotiating offers and if we don’t take it, our management fees are going through the roof. 

“They’re not trying to break out lease, but they’re saying ‘it’s going to be very expensive if you stay’.

“It’s bully-boy tactics.”

Mr Lewis is among the group of cabin owners who don’t wish to sell at any price, with seven underlessees agreeing to the offer so far.

“We are nervous … they’re the landlord, purchaser, and management,” he said.

“I do recognise AGL do not want to be in the business of running a tourist village, and that’s a legitimate call, but they bought the lease so they could bring hydro to their green energy mix, and part of the lease is the village.”

AGL has different lease arrangements with the Bogong Outdoor School to the cabins, and the Department of Education is working to ensure the school continues operating at the village.

Asked for a response to cabin owners’ concerns, a spokesman said AGL was working to finalise acquisition offers, based off “a professional market valuation”, and “would progress these offers in a co-operative, open and respectful manner”. 

“The decision to acquire the underleases was made after a 12-month review in which we investigated a number of options with stakeholders including representatives of the underlessees,” he said.

“Under the acquisition offers, the village will continue to operate under existing management arrangements until January 31, 2020.

“AGL intends to surrender its interest in Bogong Village, which it considers is not saleable due to the nature of the underlying Crown lease, complex tenure arrangements and commercial limitations. 

“Feedback from stakeholders indicated that surrendering our interest after the acquisition of the leases was the best of the options.

“Details of the village’s operational costs have been made available to the underlessees in the annual budget.

“The long-term plan for Bogong Village will be a decision for any new operator.”

AGL has stated it has no plans to demolish the existing village infrastructure at the village and that the company hasn’t been approached by a buyer.

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Because community matters: A letter from the editor