The Otago Conservation Board strongly opposes a Department of Conservation agreement in principle to grant consent for a proposed $150 million Milford Dart bus tunnel.
Last November, a Doc Southland conservancy officer's report agreed in principle to grant consent for the 11.3km bus-only tunnel, first mooted by Milford Dart Ltd in 2005, and involving two national parks.
If approved, the tunnel, linking the existing Routeburn Rd and Hollyford Rd, would halve the nine-hour travel time for visitors travelling by bus from Queenstown to Milford.
The company believes it would also inject "tens of millions" more into the New Zealand economy.
The firm has applied to build the single-lane commercial coach tunnel under sections of the Mt Aspiring and Fiordland national parks, which would require about 150m of road to be built in the Mt Aspiring National Park, and the tunnel under the Humboldt and Ailsa Ranges.
At its latest meeting, in Dunedin yesterday, the board approved a submission, which will be made to Doc's Southland conservancy before a February 20 deadline for feedback on the Doc report findings.
If the proposed Milford tunnel concession was granted, it would "undermine the statutory role" of the Mt Aspiring National Park management plan and "the integrity of the public process used to develop it", the 21-page submission states.
The board had long been involved in developing the park's statutory management plan, which had been formally approved last year after wide public consultation.
The board also had an "important role" in ensuring the plan was correctly implemented, and the board's powers included giving advice to the director-general of conservation on"the interpretation of anymanagement plan for a park", the submission noted.
Using these powers, the Otago board had previously advised Doc that this proposed concession should be declined because it was "clearly inconsistent" with the park's management plan.
The tunnel proposal had been envisaged before the release of the earlier draft notified park management plan and "the weight of submissions was against any new roading" in the park.
The overall intent of the plan was to retain the area "in its natural state as New Zealand's least developed alpine national park".
There was also a strong emphasis on "keeping facilities to a minimum, preserving natural peace and quiet" and for visitors to enjoy the park on "nature's own terms".
The board believed that "any reasonable reading" of the plan would conclude the concession was inconsistent with the plan's outcomes, objectives and policies.
In this respect, the board found itself "completely at odds" with the officer's report conclusion that the proposal's effects, subject to mitigation, were consistent the park plan's envisaged outcomes.
The plan correctly gave the impression "of a place that is near capacity - its natural values at risk from the sheer number of visitors seeking to enjoy them".
The impacts on biodiversity, including from the widening of the Routeburn Rd, would be significant and could "tip the balance for populations of mohua and long-tailed bats".
The board also noted:
• Considerable safety concerns in a one-way vehicle tunnel without a parallel escape tunnel.
• The unknowns about geology and water inherent in such a project.
• Difficulties of "dealing with unexpected environmental problems" that could arise after a concession had been granted.
