It took Southland district councillors just six minutes yesterday to support the Haast-Hollyford highway proposal being sent to the Otago-Southland Regional Land Transport Committee for consideration.
However, councillors made it clear they were not, as yet, backing construction of the private road.
Sending the proposal to the committee would allow its financial and environmental implications to be properly evaluated, they said.
"It will go through a very robust planning process. All the checks and balances will be gone through,'' Cr John Douglas said.
The 136km road would connect the West Coast and the Milford Sound/Te Anau road via the Hollyford Valley. About half its length would be within the Southland District Council (SDC) boundaries.
An estimated 98km of new road would be constructed through wilderness and the Fiordland National Park.
The highway's main backer, former Westland mayor and Haast Hollyford Highway Ltd (HHHL) director Durham Havill, says he has overseas investors in the wings and construction costs estimated at $250 million plus would be recovered by user toll charges over 30 years. That would mean no financial input was required from national or local public funders.
Councillors have discussed the road many times at meetings and public forums and have held private discussions with Mr Havill but have stopped short of fully endorsing the proposal. Last year, they agreed the highway had merit and wished to investigate it further, requesting HHHL to provide more detailed information.
Discussions stalled until a letter from Transport Minister Simon Bridges earlier this month. In it he said while a private road was "theoretically possible'', there would be complex conservation and legal issues and the Government had no plans to support the project unless it passed through standard land transport planning processes.
Cr Ebel Kremer, who represents the Te Anau area, yesterday supported sending the proposal to the regional land transport committee, saying the SDC had been giving the public "mixed signals'' about where it stood on the highway debate.
"It is good to see we have a pathway to go forward ... and this council cannot be seen to be holding the process up.''
"Only a few people thought that,'' Mayor Gary Tong responded.
The next step was for the SDC to convene a meeting with the Westland District Council, HHHL and the NZ Transport agency, SDC chief executive Steve Ruru said.
When told of the SDC decision, Mr Havill said it was "great news''.
"We're moving forward, and that's great''.
