Milford Dart Tunnel

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

Southland Mayor Frana Cardno had tears in her eyes yesterday after Conservation Minister Nick Smith announced he had refused concession for a commercial bus tunnel through two national parks - a decision he described as ''conservative''.

Construction of the Milford Dart tunnel would not cost Fiordland its World Heritage status, Conservation Minister Nick Smith said yesterday.

The group which presented a petition opposing the Milford Dart tunnel to Parliament has been invited to make a submission to a select committee on the Department of Conservation (Doc) concession process.

A report commissioned by Environment Southland considering access options to Milford Sound is flawed and of no use, Southland Mayor Frana Cardno says.

Unesco is keeping a close eye on the Fiordland and Mt Aspiring national parks and their status as a World Heritage site may be under threat from two controversial commercial proposals.

Few issues provoke such emotional responses as proposals to develop New Zealand's precious conservation land. This has been evidenced by any number of examples, such as the 1959 to 1972 Save Manapouri campaign, through to the more recent reaction to the Government's proposal to consider opening up to mining some areas of schedule 4 conservation land. National parks are considered by many to be sacred, in which man-made development or disturbance should be forbidden.

The online petition created by Glenorchy woman Patricia Ko opposing the proposed Milford Dart tunnel has made international headlines with the growing number of signatures it is receiving.

Emotions ran high during the first day of a scheduled five-day hearing into the proposed Milford Dart Passage in Queenstown yesterday, with one Glenorchy resident crying as she read her submission.

The Department of Conservation was compared to Dr Seuss' The Lorax in Queenstown yesterday, tasked with speaking for the trees "for the trees have no tongue", yet remaining silent when its voice needed to be heard.

The business case behind the controversial $150 million Milford Dart Tunnel proposal has "some major flaws and, therefore, a large risk of failure", the Southland District Council told a public hearing this week.

The proposed $150 millon Milford Dart Tunnel will do Glenorchy businesses and tourism no favours, the town's community association and tourism operators say.