‘Greenstone route’ objections

Press, 2 June 1984, Page 12

‘Greenstone route’ objections

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington Protest meetings have been held at Te Anau and Invercargill this week to object to the plans of the Lake County Council to build a road direct from Queenstown to Milford Sound, bypassing Lumsden and Te Anau. The “Greenstone route” has been proposed for many years, but to Queenstown and Central Otago interests it looks more attractive than ever before. It would cut at least two hours from the travelling time, each way, between Queenstown and Milford Sound. The route would follow the present road from Queenstown to Glenorchy and Kinloch at the head of Lake Wakatipu, down the western side of the lake as far as the Greenstone River, then up the river to the Routeburn and across to link with the Te Anau-Mil-ford Sound road. Gradients for the proposed route are easier than those between Te Anau and the Homer Tunnel. Detailed plans for the road were unveiled by the

Lake County Council’s planning consultant, Mr D. Johnston, at a recent council meeting. The council had asked Mr Johnston to prepare a resume on the matters the council had to consider in identifying parties who would be affected by the road, and the steps it had to take to comply with construction requirements. On the basis of Mr Johnston’s report, the council had declared its intention to prepare an environmental impact report on the route. Roading proposals would need to be incorporated into the District Scheme. They would be justified on the grounds of “extending the network of major scenic routes within the district” and would include an investigation of building a through-road on the route. Mr Johnston did not envisage that any special legislation would be needed, but the agreement of the National Parks and Reserves Authority would be needed for the route to link up with the Te AnauMilford Sound Road.

Agreement would be needed from the National Roads Board if roading funds were to be used; otherwise, Government money would have to be found from some other source. Such a route is seen as being likely to attract about 90 per cent of the traffic from Queenstown to Milford Sound and return. Apart from being much quicker, and so giving tourists longer to spend at Milford Sound, it all fits in with future tourist plans for Milford which is sold to tourists as a day trip. Leaving from Queenstown in the early morning, buses pass through Kingston, Lumsden, Mossburn and Te

Anau on their way, spend several hours at Milford Sound during the middle of the day for lunch and a launch trip, and then return. Building the Greenstone route would reduce the time spent travelling, so allowing more varied activities at Milford Sound, while keeping the tour as a single-day package. Milford Sound is not a suitable place at which to build more accommodation, but visiting it makes for a long journey in just one day. Southland tourist interests estimate that the proposed Greenstone route would attract at least 90 per cent of the traffic between Queenstown and Milford Sound

which, at the height of summer, exceeds 50 buses a day. The protest meetings were called to alert interested parties, and businesses in Southland, to the implications for them if the route were built. It would particularly affect Te Anau. Most of the building and expansion there during the last 20 years has been done to cater for this traffic. The Wallace County Council and, to a lesser extent, the Southland County Council are considering ways to deal with this threat to business within their areas. It is seen as a political as well as an economic issue.