About 27 submissions were in support of the intention to grant Riverstone Holdings Ltd the concession and about 288 opposed.
Public hearings for the monorail concession application will be chaired by Graeme Ayres and were scheduled to begin at Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas on Monday then reconvene in Invercargill on Tuesday.
The hearings were "an opportunity to be heard for those who have submitted and expressed interest in presenting their submissions to the representative of the Director-general of Conservation," Department of Conservation (Doc) Southland conservator Barry Hanson said.
Submissions closed on March 19 with 315 received since the intention to grant subject to a public consultation process was notified in December last year.
After the hearings, Mr Ayres will prepare a summary of all submissions and make a recommendation to a decision-maker who will be a representative of Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson.
The decision-maker will take into account the matters raised by the public which can be considered under the Conservation Act process and will then make a decision on the application.
Before it can proceed with the plan, Riverstone Holdings will also require appropriate resource consents from local authorities. Local and territorial authorities will run their own consent processes to assess the proposal relevant to the Resource Management Act.
The minister gave notice of her intention to grant concessions to Riverstone Holdings to construct, operate and maintain a monorail and associated construction of a mountain bike track through the Snowdon Forest Conservation Area, along with associated terminus facilities on marginal strip alongside the Mararoa River, and Te Anau Downs, Fiordland National Park.
