Milford Opportunities chairman Dr Keith Turner (73) confirmed to the Otago Daily Times yesterday he had delivered his retirement letter to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in January and it would take effect by March 31.
Dr Turner, a former chief executive of Meridian Energy and chairman of Fisher & Paykel, had been involved in the project since late 2016 and said the decision to resign was not taken lightly.
"It is with a great deal of mixed emotion [that he made the decision]. For me, there is an enormous amount of value in Milford [Sound] and Fiordland, and we need to preserve [it] in a way that protects its history and its past conditions.
"I am stepping down in the interest of Milford — this is not about me, this is the right decision for the Milford’s masterplan."
The project outlined a vision for the long-term future of Fiordland which included banning cruise ships from entering Milford Sound, and charging overseas visitors a fee.
Dr Turner believed it was the right time to step down as the project would get into a very important phase.
"The project is in good shape now. It has a clear direction, as we had a quite unstable time through the Covid period — we couldn’t resource adequately and to get it going was hard.
"We’ve now got a strong work programme under way to prove its feasibility."
Because of his age, he believed he would not be able to be involved in the project for a further five years, so he thought it was appropriate to have someone who would oversee the next phases of it, which included the feasibility study, and enable its implementation.
"Succession is very important and it needed to be done in the least disruptive manner."
He strongly believed that Milford Sound needed special attention and said a new entity was needed to manage this asset, as the Department of Conservation (Doc) was not set up to be a tourism organisation.
Many visitors agreed the trip to Milford Sound was spectacular, but the arrival in Milford itself was an "anticlimax", he said.
"If you hear this from international tourists, that is an extraordinary message for us that we are not looking after it.
"We are not doing justice to what Milford represents in the global tourism world."
While he would not be involved in the board anymore, he would still keep a close eye on the project.
"I really do believe that Milford is an extraordinary experience for visitors and we don’t manage this experience at all.
" I love the place and I am very attached to Fiordland. I have a passion for the reform that is needed to make Milford the first wonder of the world.
