The board had verbally advised Doc to take a neutral stance on the application from Milford Dart because the $170 million project was equally "consistent" and "inconsistent" under the park's management plan, board chairman Robin McNeill said.
The proposal was " difficult" because there were "pros and cons and the plan was never written with a tunnel in mind. That makes it difficult to figure out how to treat it," he said.
Mrs Cardno supported the advice, saying New Zealand was "about quality tourism, not how quick we can get them places ... To me, putting a tunnel through a World Heritage park where they see nothing is not quality tourism."
The tunnel proponents say the 11.3km tunnel between Routeburn Station near Glenorchy and the Hollyford Valley could slash travel times between Queenstown and Milford.
Mrs Cardno said there was concern about the effects the project would have on the "pristine" national park.
Milford Dart director Tom Elworthy said after an initial reading of the board's pre-draft report he was still "optimistic" the plan would go ahead.
He rejected Mrs Cardno's claims the tunnel would undermine the quality of tourists' experience.
"If it's about quality tourism, how does 11 hours in a bus help? It's all about connectivity and opening up the whole network. It will free up a whole lot of time for people to spend money rather than sit on a bus." Doc Southland concessions and acting statutory land management manager Stewart Genery said now that Milford Dart had received the draft it would be given the opportunity to make comments that would be added to the final report.
If accepted, the report is likely to go out for public consultation.
