INVERCARGILL - The New Zealand Conservation Authority wants Conservation Minister Sandra Lee to make Stewart Island the country's first island national park.
The proposed 150,000ha Rakiura National Park would become the fourth biggest national park in New Zealand.
The authority's chairman, Sir Duncan McMullin, said a meeting in Wellington last week dealt with outstanding issues such as revising the park's proposed boundary line and management of deer on the island.
The original proposal was for the boundary to run from Lee Bay to Kaipipi Bay, but some residents felt that was not large enough and wanted it to run from Port William to North Arm to allow for development on the island.
The revised boundary line runs from Kaipipi Creek to the Department of Conservation headwaters and then in a straight line east to the headwaters of Little River Creek. The alternative proposal doubles the size of the original buffer zone.
The chairman of the Stewart Island Community Board, Ted Rooney, supported the park idea, but expressed concern about the boundary line remaining beside some private land.
The Southland District Mayor, Frana Cardno, suggested a tourist levy could be one way of paying for the infrastructure on the island if a national park went ahead.
However, Mrs Cardno said a "tourist tax" similar to that mooted by the Kaikoura Ratepayers' Association to pay for the infrastructure supporting the town's tourism industry was just one option.
"It's one way of doing it and it worked [in Milford Sound] but there needs to be other ways as well."
Mr Rooney said a levy had been considered in the past for transport operators who brought visitors to the island. About 30,000 people visited the island last year, with visitor numbers increasing 3 to 4 per cent each year.
If national park status were given to Stewart Island, up to 50,000 people could visit the island a year, putting pressure on sewerage, roading and water.
Mr Rooney said the island's 609 ratepayers could not meet the cost of developing and maintaining the infrastructure.
- NZPA