Real Journeys will not appeal the Queenstown Lakes District Council's decision to decline consent for its proposed Narrows Ferry service, the company's commercial director Tony McQuilkin said.
While the company was ''naturally disappointed,'' it had accepted the council's decision.
Real Journeys lodged consent in June to operate a small electric passenger and cycle ferry across the narrows of Lake Wakatipu, between Park St and Kelvin Heights.
A total of 112 submissions were received.
A resource consent hearing was held in Queenstown late last month before commissioners David Whitney and David Clarke, during which Mr McQuilkin said the proposed ''Bumblebee Ferry'' was ''not radical, it is obvious''.
The company, which operates TSS Earnslaw and more than 30 other boats, sought consent for the two-ferry service, to operate from 6am to 8pm, along with associated structures.
The 54-page decision, released yesterday, said the principal issues in contention were the adverse effects on the environment associated with the proposed land use activity, which had to be balanced against the positive effects of providing a ferry service at the Narrows.
''The commission finds that the proposed activity will have adverse and positive actual and potential effects on the environment.
''Adverse effects that are associated with the Park St terminal and/or the Kelvin Peninsula terminal ... include visual and landscape effects, effects on residential character and amenity values, effects on lake users, effects in terms of traffic and parking (at the Park St terminal) and adverse cumulative effects.
''The commission acknowledges that significant positive effects would be associated with the provision of the ferry service.''
The decision said the commissioners acknowledged the ferry service had the potential to reduce the number of vehicles travelling between Queenstown and Kelvin Heights and they recognised Real Journeys was a ''proven tourism operator''.
However, in declining consent, the commissioners found, overall, the adverse effects outweighed those.
Mr McQuilkin said in a statement yesterday the service would have been valuable to the community and would provide a ''significant enhancement'' to the Queenstown Trails network ''which is unfortunately now not going to happen''.
''I have personally driven this project and believed in the wider community benefits.
''This was a service that made plain good sense and we gave it our best shot,'' he said.
