Banning boats in the southern end of Lake Pukaki to preserve views of New Zealand's highest mountain has been endorsed by the lake's only commercial boating operation.
Rebecca Flannery's start-up tourism venture H2 Explore - Hovercraft Cruises banks on scenery to draw in clients, but Mrs Flannery says she does not want ``congestion'' on the lake, which offers picturesque views of Mt Cook, despite what some might think.
``They all assume I want hovercrafts all over the lake. We don't - at all,'' she said.
``We don't want a Lake Tahoe ... we don't want Wakatipu, and I get that, and I totally support the viewing corridor. We believe that really strongly.''
The Mackenzie District Council's proposed plan change 19 - to prohibit both commercial and recreational boating on the roughly 180sq km South Canterbury lake - drew 165 submissions comprising a variety of views in the first round of public submissions last month, and is now out for its second round of consultation.
But Mackenzie Mayor Graham Smith told the Otago Daily Times the council ``would like to protect the southern end of the viewing corridor of Mt Cook, without commercial operations in that area'' as the plan change makes its way towards an independent hearing.
While the council had proposed a ``prohibited status'', it expected the public would want to have its say on the future use of the lake.
The plan change proposed changing motorised boating from a permitted to a prohibited activity ``to protect the unique natural quiet, beauty and tranquility values'' of Lake Pukaki.
Mrs Flannery said she had followed the process for plan change 19 ``extraordinarily closely''.
``Obviously, Lake Pukaki is of extreme interest to us,'' she said. ``We currently hold a full resource consent for commercial operations.''
She had lived in the area for the past seven years and said recreational use of the lake had skyrocketed in the past year alone, estimating the number of boats on the lake had ``increased 300% in the last 12 months''.
``What's happened is, it [the lake] has got warmer and warmer, the silt isn't the same, so the colour's changed, and everyone's suddenly gone, this is great fun; this is a good lake.''
She supported a mixed-use proposal for the lake divided into quadrants where the southwest corner would have a total ban on boating.
She said some who advocated for a total ban on boats on the lake forgot ``it's an enormous lake''.
``We actually see ourselves as guardians of the lake.''