A gondola short-cut to Milford

By ANNE GIBSON

A short-cut between Queenstown and Milford is the rationale for a 12.6km aerial gondola proposed for the Southern Lakes region, swapping a tortuous nine-hour road journey for less than half that, including a 38-minute gondola trip which would be one of the most spectacular rides in New Zealand.

But environmentalists are shaping up to oppose the application for resource consent, taking the stance that the development would be a scar on the pristine landscape, would threaten endangered species and introduce pests and weeds.

On one side is Skyline Enterprises Ltd, headed by Barry Thomas, of Queenstown. Skyline is the successful operator of the gondolas and luge rides in Queenstown and Rotorua, and is a shareholder in Christchurch Casinos. Formed in 1966, it is a blueblood, South Island sharemarket stayer with $47 million worth of assets and 700 shareholders, most living in Otago and Southland.

It has teamed with Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation, which owns much of the land that the gondola would cross. Ngai Tahu has made strategic and key tourism investments following Treaty of Waitangi settlements. These include buying a controlling interest in Queenstown's Shotover Jet, half of the Pipeline Bungi at Skippers Canyon near Queenstown, and 43 per cent of Whale Watch Kaikoura Ltd. It also owns three high-country stations in the Wakatipu area - Greenstone, Elfin Bay and Routeburn.

Skyline and Ngai Tahu have formed a venture to propose the Milford Skytrail, the longest cableway of its type in the world, which would cost $80 million to build. On the other side is an array of environmentalists, the most vociferous opponent being the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society.

Field officer Eugenie Sage in Christchurch decries the gondola proposal: "We have serious concerns due to the disruption and the intrusion into a scenic landscape, the major implications of extending the road, the fact that the Caples is a popular tramping area and this would disrupt users to the area. With a road and gondola, there is a major problem with pest and weed intrusion too."

She points to her home patch and the Port Hills gondola as a development which is sometimes closed, especially during high winds, and predicts the Milford Skytrail would be dogged by similar problems.

The society will oppose the resource consent application, she vows. In the meantime, it wants much more information on the proposal from Ngai Tahu.

The Otago-Southland field officer for the society, Sue Maturin, says her office has been "inundated with calls from people wanting to find a vehicle to oppose the gondola." She tells them she hopes the development is just "pie in the sky" and advises there is little to be done meanwhile.

A "scoping report" was all that was issued when the proposal emerged last month: "At this very preliminary stage, the promoters [NTHC/Skyline] have prepared this scoping report, the objective being to formally introduce the project into the public arena. The report is intended to provide the starting point for discussions with landowners/stakeholders, regulatory agencies, industry groups, interest groups and interested individuals," the report said.

Included on the list, which Skytrail intends to consult, is the society as well as various government departments, tourism and conservation agencies, regional authorities and tourism operators.

What the proposal involves:

The Milford Skytrail proposal is for a gondola combined with a new road link between Queenstown and Milford.

The trip takes up to nine hours by road. It would take two to three hours with the proposal, including the 38-minute gondola ride.

From Queenstown, tourists would take a coach or car to the existing Greenstone carpark on an existing road, via Glenorchy. An alternative is to take a boat trip up Lake Wakatipu to the carpark.

From there, tourists would be taken 12km on a private road which follows a stock track, over Ngai Tahu lands, through the Caples Valley. This is the road the conservationists oppose.

Tourists would then take the 38-minute gondola journey which would end at the main Te Anau-Milford Road. They would then get on a bus for the last leg, taking them to Milford Sound via the main road, returning to Queenstown by the same means.

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