Fears of further destructive development in World Heritage wilderness if Fiordland monorail approved
If plans for a destructive monorail through Snowdon Forest World Heritage wilderness in Fiordland are approved by
conservation minister Nick Smith, it will create a legal right to further destructive development in the Greenstone or
Caples valleys, say campaigners at Save Fiordland and Otago Conservation Board.
If the monorail across Snowdon Forest is given the go ahead, then there is a legal right for similar schemes to be
developed in the Greenstone and Caples valley, also in the World Heritage wilderness area. This legal right is written
into the Ngai Tahu Deed of Settlement. The Otago Conservation Board has raised a concern that this could mean a monorail
or road up the Greenstone Valley or a gondola up the Caples valley, both stunning wilderness locations.
Gordon Bailey, chair of the Otago Conservation Board and parks manager at Queenstown Lakes District Council, said this
issue is a concern of the Board and the position of the Board.
Ngai Tahu owns the Greenstone River flats, and there is a surveyed road route that links the flats with the Hollyford
via the Department of Conservation backcountry Howden Hut on the Routeburn Track.
The Greenstone and Caples valley are beautiful, remote wilderness valleys and fishing locations of national importance
and also in hunting recreation areas. They are popular valleys for trampers with tramping trails that connect to the
world famous Routeburn Track.
Clause 5.3.1 in the Ngai Tahu deed of settlement states that if the minister permitted the undertaking of "any
development of any form of road or railway" through the Snowdon conservation area, the minister would not withhold
consent, under clause 5.1, for "any proposed development of the same kind or a similar kind" by "the landholder on the
land".
This applied if the area affected by the first development had "ecological and recreational values of equal or greater
significance" to the other development, and the landholder's proposed development had "no greater impact" on the
environment than the permitted development.
The proposed Snowdon Forest monorail is not a low impact, eco scheme. It would destroy thousands of trees in the remote
Kiwi Burn valley, currently only used by trampers, anglers and hunters. It would mean the construction of a parallel
maintenance road, as well as concrete pylons to take the monorail across wide, wilderness river beds. For safety, to
prevent tree fall on the track, it would also mean a wide swath of destruction of trees, including precious red beech
trees that can grow to be more than 30 metres tall, hence requiring a minimum 30 metre clearance either side of the
monorail if safety is put first. It would disrupt a unique ecosystem containing endangered species.
Bill Jarvie, chair of Save Fiordland, said: “Regardless of whether the Ngai Tahu would ever have any plans to develop
similar projects, people need to be aware that the Minister may well be unwittingly giving long term approval to two or
three destructive projects, not just one, if he says ‘yes’ to the monorail. For this reason, it is vital that he says
‘no’.”
Call to action
To support Save Fiordland, go to www.savefiordland.org.nz or visit us at SaveFiordland on Facebook, then write to Nick
Smith objecting to the monorail.
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