Mr Woodhead recently wrote to Transport Minister Gerry Brownlie, suggesting this approach, on behalf of the transport committee.
In the letter, a copy of which was tabled at the committee's meeting, in Dunedin this week, Mr Woodhead said the committee was aware of two concession applications for new transport links between Queenstown and Milford Sound, being considered by the Department of Conservation.
In Queenstown this week, a hearing is being held into the Milford Dart Passage, a proposal involving an 11.3km commercial bus tunnel under the Mt Aspiring and Fiordland national parks.
And submissions to the Department of Conservation closed this week for a proposed Fiordland Link Experience monorail which, if approved, would run 43km from the Mavora River to the Milford Rd at Te Anau.
Mr Woodhead said any such new link should be based on two principles:
• All road users should be "given the opportunity to use any such link", whether the proposed bus tunnel or an alternative.
• Construction and operation of any such link should proceed as a public-private partnership. Such a partnership would enable central and local government to obtain the "optimum, long-term solution for the country", rather than "the best commercial solution for a private business".
This public-private approach would also enable central and local government to make provision for:
• Any "upgrades and additional maintenance of roads" required as a result of a new link.
• Safe travel, which was particularly important because of the "difficult terrain and high number of tourists travelling".
A• lternative modes of travel, including cycling. The link could become part of the national cycleway network.
He noted the committee was "charged with advocating for the transport needs of the region".
Mr Woodhead said in an interview the committee was, in part, highlighting the "bigger picture" and the "wider implications" of the proposed new links, including potentially heavier use of "local roads" in the area.
