Monorail support, but decision not made - Smith

An artist's impression of the proposed monorail.

The controversial monorail proposal linking Queenstown to Te Anau Downs and subsequently Milford Sound could soon be approved.

Conservation Minister Nick Smith yesterday visited the proposed terminus site at Te Anau Downs and made public the official advice from the Department of Conservation and the Hearing Commissioner, which recommends he approve the Fiordland Link Experience.
The $200 million proposal from Riverstone Holdings Ltd includes 43km of monorail (which Dr Smith said was the world's longest monorail), a catamaran trip across Lake Wakatipu and an all-terrain vehicle journey to the terminus at Kiwi Burn.

News the hearings commissioner recommended Dr Smith approve the proposal, subject to extensive conditions, left former Southland District Council Mayor Frana Cardno "extremely, extremely disappointed".

Ms Cardno said the proposal would be "an obnoxious eyesore" which should not be allowed on the "world heritage land in our backyard".

She is part of Save Fiordland, which has been vocal in protesting the proposal, and when asked whether the group would appeal against the decision if the monorail was granted, she said "we will be seriously looking at it".

Yesterday Dr Smith insisted "the decision is mine" and the commissioner's recommendation that the monorail be given a tick "does not prejudge my decision", which he hoped to make before Christmas.

There was no question, Dr Smith said, about the area's beauty and while he said he had a protective view of national parks, what was significant about the project "is that it is outside the Fiordland National Park except for a very small area that is already leased out to the hotel at Te Anau Downs".

He wanted to see for himself "the areas affected by the construction of the two terminals and the 29.5-kilometre long, six-metre wide corridor that would be cleared to make way for the monorail through public conservation land" and scrutinise the impacts on the Snowdon Forest.

Dr Smith in July turned down a commercial bus tunnel proposed by Milford Dart Ltd to link Routeburn Rd in Mt Aspiring National Park to Hollyford Rd in the Fiordland National Park.

"This monorail decision will be no easier than that of the Milford Tunnel. I am very protective of national parks like Fiordland and this project has the advantage of being largely outside it," he said.

"However, the monorail still requires clearance of a large area of forest on public conservation land. The submissions process also shows there are strongly held views both in support and in opposition to this project.

"I am releasing the official reports from DoC and the Hearing Commissioner because of the level of public interest in this proposal. I want to be open about the advice I have received and the issues I must consider."

Smith will also discuss the issue with the New Zealand Conservation Authority and "consider further advice from DoC on the World Heritage status of the area."

Forest and Bird Otago/Southland field officer Sue Maturin said in a statement yesterday that while the Snowdon Forest, through which 29km of the monorail would run, is not a national park, it does have high values and the project would pose a risk to wildlife.

Southland District Council mayor Gary Tong - officially sworn in yesterday - said it was ultimately Dr Smith's decision and he remained hopeful the Minister would decline the proposal.

"I don't want to stand on Nick Smith's toes, but I hope he takes everything into account before he makes this decision ... In the long run, I am [hopeful he'll say 'no]."

When contacted, a spokeswoman for Riverstone Holdings Ltd managing director Bob Robertson said he was not granting media interviews.

In a statement, he said the company welcomed the release of the commissioner's report and agreed the proposal met the required legal tests and was able to be granted with conditions which "carefully manage its impact".

Mr Robertson said unlike the commissioner's report on the proposed Milford-Dart Tunnel, which recommended the project be declined, the report recognised the monorail's impacts could be "appropriately mitigated".

- Additional reporting by BusinessDesk