Southland District Mayor Frana Cardno has issued a war cry, warning that if the Department of Conservation allows either of the two proposed "mass tourism infrastructure" passenger projects through Fiordland to go ahead, a judicial review would be sought.
In a statement yesterday, Ms Cardno said it was time for the community to "stand side by side and battle fire with fire" and "stand up against big operators with dollars on their minds", comparing the threat to that which inspired the Save Manapouri Campaign.
Late last year, Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson signalled her intention to grant concessions to Milford Dart Ltd and Riverstone Holdings Ltd for separate tourism proposals, both of which would link Queenstown and Milford Sound.
MDL wants to build an 11.3km commercial bus tunnel linking Glenorchy to the Hollyford Valley via the Mount Aspiring and Fiordland national parks.
Riverstone Holdings wants to build a 43km monorail from Kiwi Burn, near the Mavora Lakes, through the Snowdon Forest to Te Anau Downs, 29km of which would be through conservation land.
Hearings have since been held for both proposals, with submissions being summarised and a recommendation to be issued to the decision makers.
A report will then be compiled, after which final decisions for both applications will be made.
Ms Cardno said the Te Anau community was uniting to do battle against the proposals, which "threaten the protection of conservation land in Fiordland". She believed the community effort would be of the same scale and significance of the Save Manapouri Campaign, which was waged between 1959 and 1972 protesting the proposed raising of Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau as a result of the Manapouri power station construction.
The campaign was revived in 1991 and renamed Power For Our Future, this time opposing the sale of the power station to ensure Comalco did not revive its plans to raise the level of Lake Manapouri.
Ms Cardno said the proposed developments offered little benefit to the community or the environment, with both MDL and Riverstone Holdings intending to generate revenue from the large number of people who visited Milford Sound annually.
In total, 1235 people made submissions on the Dart Passage Tunnel proposal, with the majority in opposition.
Additionally, more than 11,500 people have signed an online petition against the proposed tunnel, making it the largest petition change.org had hosted in New Zealand.
On the monorail proposal, 318 people made submissions, 288 of them in opposition.
Ms Cardno said many submissions opposed the proposals on the grounds of the Conservation Act; specifically, that the interpretation of the Act was inconsistent with the national park management plans, and she was heartened by the level of response to the submission process for both proposals.
"There are few, if any, positive impacts of these proposals, and it's time for the community to stand side by side, and battle fire with fire."
If Doc did not give weighting to the public submissions made and "turn around" its decision, the next step would be for the community to seek a judicial review of the process.
"The review will take energy and commitment from locals.
"If we let this kind of thing happen on our back doorstep, what kind of precedent is that setting for how we look after our World Heritage sites?"
A public meeting had been scheduled for June 26 at the Distinction Hotel in Te Anau and Ms Cardno encouraged "anyone with an interest in keeping tourism in Te Anau" to attend.
"We cannot rest on our laurels. We must get organised and commit to the cause," she said.
