A list of eight steps describing how Glenorchy's Stop the Tunnel group has lobbied the Department of Conservation in a bid to encourage it to decline Milford Dart Ltd's (MDL) proposal for an 11.6km commercial bus tunnel to Milford Sound has been sent to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The letter also asks the office to investigate Doc's interpretation and implementation of the concession process in considering the proposal, as Stop the Tunnel believes Doc is disregarding proper process in its consideration of the application.
In late 2011, then conservation minister Kate Wilkinson announced her intention to grant a consent for the tunnel, a decision that was met with more than 1200 submissions, many of them in opposition to it.
In opposing the tunnel, the group has set up an online petition that has attracted more than 30,000 signatures to date, had a meeting with Clutha Southland member of Parliament Bill English, presented a physical copy of the petition on the steps of Parliament, been visited by multiple Labour and Green Party politicians, had MPs ask questions about the tunnel during question time in Parliament and made a submission to a select committee.
The letter also lists four ''key issues where usual concession process has been flawed''.
Among these, the group claims that the proposal is inconsistent with the Mt Aspiring National Park Management Plan and that, after lengthy consideration, both the Southland and Otago Conservation Boards recommended the concession be declined, advice that Doc has not taken. Stop the Tunnel also has concerns about a 2.8km stretch of road in Mt Aspiring National Park that, ''for reasons that have never been clarified'', has been ''excluded from the submission process''.
''We do not understand why it has been exempted from the concession process.
''Despite assurances from MDL that no development will be needed for their proposal, it is impossible for two buses to meet each other on that road (much less 40 per day) without the need to cut down trees, widen the road, and change the environment,'' the letter says.
''The Hon Nick Smith, Minister of Conservation, has taken the responsibility to make the decision with regard to this concession.
''The language he has used in the media is about economic opportunity, whereas the entire decision to grant the concession should be based on its adherence to the Conservation Act.
''Our major concern is that, should this application be successful using a flawed process, it sets a major precedent for other activities which have historically been impossible within National Parks,'' the letter says.
