The proposed Milford Dart Tunnel has not found favour with the Otago Conservation Board, which resolved at a meeting in Lake Hawea on Thursday to oppose the construction of a tunnel access road in the Mt Aspiring National Park.
The Otago Conservancy only has jurisdiction over the road section at the Routeburn end of the proposed tunnel while the Southland Conservancy has jurisdiction over the bulk of the tunnel route.
Milford Dart Ltd has applied to build an 11.3km single-lane commercial coach tunnel under sections of the Mt Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park, linking existing public roads in the Routeburn and Hollyford valleys.
It was first mooted in 2005 and is designed to reduce the nine-hour return journey between Queenstown and Milford Sound.
It would require about 150m of new access road at the Routeburn end of the tunnel, in the Mt Aspiring National Park.
The Department of Conservation (Doc) recently announced it agreed in principle with the proposal and advertised it for public submissions.
Board deputy chairman Garry Nixon was absent at Thursday's meeting but filed a report calling for the Otago Conservation Board to defend the new Mt Aspiring National Park management plan.
Doc had the opportunity to include the tunnel proposal in the publicly notified management plan but had chosen not to do so. If the tunnel had been included, the community could have responded to it in submissions, he said.
"This would have ensured the wide issues were debated, including a consideration of the need for an alternative route to Milford and if this need were proven, all the possible transport solutions. It [Doc] chose not to do this and should therefore support the plan it agreed to," Dr Nixon said.
Dr Nixon said while the Minister of Conservation might have the right to override the Mt Aspiring National Park management plan, "I cannot accept that the proposed concession is consistent with the plan," Dr Nixon said.
The plan says new roads should not be authorised in the park unless in the "front country zone" - the tunnel road proposal is not - and then only if it would significantly enhance park access and enjoyment and was specifically required for access to visitor facilities.
Board chairwoman Prof Abby Smith noted Dr Nixon's "strong views" and asked whether other board members shared them.
They did, unanimously resolving Dr Nixon and fellow board member David Barnes should draft a submission to Doc, along the lines of Dr Nixon's report.
