Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson must make the final decision on whether to allow the Milford Dart Tunnel, Green Party conservation spokeswoman Eugenie Sage said yesterday.
Ms Sage said the minister was "dodging her responsibility for the decision over whether to allow a road tunnel to be dug in Fiordland National Park by delegating it to a Conservation Department manager" and, in doing so, was trying to avoid being involved in a highly con-troversial decision.
"The risk is, the department will approve this intrusive proposal because of the Government's low value of conservation and environmental protection, but the minister doesn't want to face the public outrage that would spark."
She said the 25,000- signature petition given to politicians in Wellington by three women from Glenorchy's Stop the Tunnel group yesterday showed how "important and politically sensitive this decision is".
The petition was presented on the steps of Parliament to National's Invercargill MP Eric Roy, as Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, who had originally agreed to accept it, was not available at the time.
Glenorchy woman Leslie van Gelder said the petition was then read out in Parliament and would be discussed at a local government and environment select committee.
She said she and the other Stop the Tunnel representatives who travelled to Wellington were happy with how the presentation and the previous days had gone.
"It's helpful to know that people in government really do understand the issues."
The group had written to all politicians asking for their time to listen to the group's concerns and had hoped to meet Ms Wilkinson, but were told by her personal assistant the decision was going through the Doc process and the Minister could not comment.
"In a sense, it would have been nice for her to meet with us, but they are following a process."
The group was not confident the tunnel proposal would be declined, but was confident it had achieved "the best outcome we could have asked for".
Last week, Doc media adviser Reuben Williams told the Otago Daily Times the department was still preparing reports on concession applications for Milford Dart Ltd, which is proposing the tunnel, and Riverstone Holdings Ltd, which is proposing a monorail linking Lake Wakatipu and the Milford road.
The reports would then be forwarded to the delegated decision-maker, Doc operations deputy director Sue Cosford.
