After so much work by so many people at a national and local level it was great to finally get the Milford Opportunities vision out there. There were moments during the official unveiling of the plan in Te Anau this week that brought home to everyone present the importance of managing and protecting this magnificent jewel in our crown so that future generations can enjoy it. You could have heard a pin drop in the room when Muriel Johnstone from the Ōraka Aparima runanga talked about what the proposals mean for Milford. And it was satisfying to hear Michael Skerrett from Ngāi Tahu confirming that the four years of work done to get to this point had been truly collaborative from the perspective of local iwi.
Mountain Scene
July 29, 2021
By TRACEY ROXBURGH and PHILIP CHANDLER
One of Queenstown’s most experienced aviators is ‘‘dead against’’ a proposal to close Milford’s airstrip, while Queenstown mayor Jim Boult’s promising to work with operators to lobby for its retention.
Milford Opportunities Project governance group boss Keith Turner unveiled plans yesterday the result of four years’ work which include a recommendation to close the Milford
airstrip.
In a statement, Turner says the group knows that’ll be ‘‘controversial’’ and will affect livelihoods.
‘‘But the airstrip is in a poor state of repair, is already beginning to flood at extreme high tides, is very exposed to alpine fault tsunami risk and would be very expensive to rebuild to a modern and sustainable standard.
The Milford Opportunities masterplan has outlined recommendations for the the tourist destination.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The Milford Opportunities masterplan outlining recommendations for the destination was launched on Wednesday in Te Anau.
Project governance group chair Dr Keith Turner said numbers into Piopiotahi peaked at 870,000 visitors in 2019, up from 430,000 in 2013.
Under the recommendations, New Zealanders would not need to pay to access Piopiotahi, but private vehicle parking would be limited.
International visitors would either pay for a parking permit or use a park and ride system to get to Milford Sound.
Funding from international visitor permits would be used to fund other elements in the plan including enabling conservation improvements and special protection projects.
Minister of Conservation
Expert group lays out plan to better protect iconic UNESCO World Heritage site Milford Sound Piopiotahi and its surrounds
Funding confirmed for dedicated unit and Establishment Board to assess the recommendations and provide oversight of the process from here
Milford Opportunities Project a test case for transformational change in tourism
Proposal recognises Ngāi Tahu’s presence in and knowledge of the landscape
The government has confirmed that work by an expert group into the future of Milford Sound Piopiotahi will proceed to its next stage.
“The release of a new plan to address visitor pressures and safety at the iconic UNESCO World Heritage site in Fiordland marks another step to improved access and protection of this jewel in our tourism crown,” Stuart Nash said.
Visitor numbers peaked in 2019 with 870,000 visitors through Milford Sound, up from 430,000 in 2013 – which most agreed were simply unsustainable. “While Covid set back the numbers, we expect them to return because it is a rare opportunity to visit true wilderness,” Turner said. He stressed that the masterplan was a concept subject to detailed designs, business cases, and government approval, and that it would likely be four to five years before any of the ideas were realised. Complex conversations and negotiations with commercial operators lay ahead as the project moved into its implementation phase, he said. The decision to remove the airstrip was based on four factors, Turner said: the instability of the land under it, the cost of maintaining it, the fact that it took up a third of the flat land in Milford Sound, and that it blocked some of the best views of Mitre Peak.