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MILFORD DART TUNNEL QUEENSTOWN LINK DRAWS 1000 SUBMISSIONS

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February, 2012

More than 1000 submissions have been lodged on the proposed Milford-Dart private tunnel, double the number expected by the Department of Conservation.
The $150 million bus-only tunnel would shortcut the current route from Queenstown to Milford Sound by more than half, and would cause a major reroute north through Glenorchy, bypassing Te Anau. The 11.3km tunnel would also burrow under world heritage sites and has raised fears of irreparable ecological damage.
Tunnel backer Milford-Dart Ltd would make money from charging access fees, but has also said the tunnel would reinvigorate flagging tourist numbers to the sound.
The tunnel idea was first floated in 2005.
Before a hearing date could be set a submissions board would analyse every submission and collate it into a summary, which would then be handed to Southland Conservator Barry Hanson.
"At this point the delegation of the decision is with one person, and that is Barry Hanson, who's remaining fairly independent on this one and won't be involved with processing or looking through the submissions, and will wait until all the information is collated and presented to him which is how it should be," Mr Williams said.
No recommendations would be made by the submissions board, who would analyse content of submissions and divide them into for, against or neutral categories.
Mr Hanson would base his decision on that analysis, as well as what people had to say in support of their submissions during the hearings process, Mr Williams said.
"No final decisions will be made before the hearings take place."
Although the department had opened public submissions to hear feedback on the intention to grant a concession for the tunnel, the final decision, whether for or against, is not the sole deciding factor on whether the tunnel can go ahead.
If a concession is granted resource consent to build the tunnel would then have to be granted by the Queenstown Lakes District Council for the project to go ahead.

Source: Fairfax NZ News