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A company's plans to build a bus tunnel in Mt Aspiring National Park to reduce the travel time from Queenstown to Milford Sound have been turned down by the New Zealand Conservation Authority.
The authority today said it declined to approve an amendment to the Mount Aspiring National Park Management Plan, allowing for the construction of a new road and tunnel within the park.
This meant the plans of the Milford Dart Company to build a bus tunnel from part of the Routeburn Road to the Hollyford Valley to reduce the travel time significantly from Queenstown to Milford Sound, could not proceed, the authority said.
The activities cannot now proceed because they would not be consistent with the Aspiring management plan.
The Otago Conservation Board had recommended allowing a road off Routeburn Road and tunnel for specifically approved transport.
Authority chairman Kerry Marshall said removing native plants and disturbing native animals, especially old growth forests and threatened species, to construct a road to reduce travel time for tourists was not consistent with the National Parks Act.
- NZPA
