The company behind a proposal to link Queenstown and Fiordland via catamaran, all-terrain vehicle and monorail believes its product will enable visitors a unique opportunity to intimately appreciate New Zealand’s lakes, rivers, mountains, and native bush.
Riverstone Holdings Ltd director Bob Robertson said most tourists spent almost 10 hours on a bus to get from Queenstown to Milford Sound – an arduous journey that many simply slept through.
“This is a very good example of the problem we face with our international tourists. We have done a great job marketing ‘100% Pure New Zealand’ by showing tourists fantastic scenery – mountains, rivers, and bush typically filmed by helicopter which people think they can experience when they arrive in New Zealand,” he said. “However, the reality is that most visitors are spending hours on the road through farmland and urban areas, hardly getting the experience they were sold.”
The proposed Fiordland Link Experience passed its first major hurdle last week when the Department of Conservation approved in principle the granting of concession lease for a term of 49 years and concession licences and easements for a term of 60 years to Riverstone Holdings Limited, subject to the outcome of the public notification process and various concession conditions.
At 43.5km, the proposed monorail would be the longest of its kind in the world.
When the project was first mooted the company planned to progress construction from the track itself, putting piers in and bringing the construction immediately behind on the same rail the monorail would run. But in late 2009 it lodged a renewed concession application with the Department of Conservation proposing a construction track be formed parallel to the track but between 20m and 80m away from it, with spur tracks every 200m for access to the monorail. This would be retained after the track’s construction for monorail maintenance and mountain biking – forming a critical leg of the proposed Three Lakes Ride between Lake Wakatipu, Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri.
On public conservation land the monorail and bike track would be located within a 200m wide easement corridor. Where the monorail enters private land, the mountain bike track alignment separates and stays on public conservation land. For example, the monorail route would cross private land after leaving Snowdon Forest, but the mountain bike track would diverge in the Henry Creek catchment to mostly public conservation land en route to Te Anau Downs. This section (approximately 17 km) would be a purpose built mountain bike track, and not a construction track which is then adapted for public mountain bike use.
Mr Robertson has been keen to promote the “significant contribution” the Fiordland Link Experience promises for the local economy. The company predicts that during the construction phase the project will employ 140 construction personnel at site and underpin a further 300 jobs in the Fiordland and Southland regions in industries such as transport, concrete manufacture, steel fabrication and plant hire. Once operations commence it predicts Fiordland Link Experience will have a peak seasonal workforceof close to 100 with 60 positions that are full time. Mr Robertson estimated the bulk of the workforce would be located in the Te Anau region.
And while there were fears the route would result in even more tourists bypassing Te Anau, he said transport would be available between the end of the monorail track at Te Anau Downs and Te Anau township, with visitors able to connect with the monorail’s regular schedule when they wanted, allowing them to take time out during their journey to experience attractions elsewhere in Fiordland. The proposed service would also open up options to connect with coaches or pick up rental vehicles to travel the Southern Scenic Route, Mr Robertson said.
The DOC report, which can be found on the website www.doc.govt.nz under notified concession applications, notes that Riverstone Holdings has put considerable effort and technical expertise into the preparation of construction and environmental management plans and the scale of the potential effects and DOC “largely accepts” the company’s assessments. The report recommends that the concession could be granted on the basis of that information, conditional on further audit and approval of final design specifications and plans.
Submissions close with DOC on February 22 next year. If a hearing is required, it is likely to occur on the week starting April 2.
Riverstone Holdings has prepared a five-minute video clip promoting the Fiordland Link Experience. It can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=18tRuGkVv_o
Further information is also available on its website www.fiordlandlink.com
THE PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Fiordland Link Experience is a 108km journey from Queenstown to Lake Te Anau comprising three sections:
• Queenstown to Mount Nicholas Station via catamaran across Lake Wakatipu (20km, 27 minutes)
• Mount Nicholas Station to Kiwi Burn via purpose-built all-terrain vehicle on existing back country roads through the Von and Mavora Lakes areas to a terminus located about 1.7 km downstream from the Mararoa Swing bridge (45km, 43 minutes)
• Kiwi Burn to Te Anau Downs via electrically-powered monorail through tussock and farm land and the edge of the Snowdown Forest (43km, 33 minutes)
A single track, with 3 passing bays and a turning circle at each end, would initially cater for one train carrying up to 160 passengers. Adding more carriages could expand that to 224 passengers. As demand grows there would be the potential to run at least four trains simultaneously. It would therefore have the capacity to carry more than double the number of visitors who currently travel between Queenstown and Fiordland each year.
The projected cost of the monorail and associated facilities is $175 million. Track construction is expected to take 30 months.
A 3m wide construction track, running parallel to the monorail, would remain in use after monorail construction, for monorail maintenance and mountain biking as a crucial part of the proposed Three Lakes Ride between Lake Wakatipu, Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri.
Who’s behind it?
Riverstone Holdings Ltd is a private company, 100 percent New Zealand owned. The Companies Offi ce website shows its major shareholder to be Alpine Adventures Holdings Ltd which is owned by the Wanaka-based Infi nity Investment Group, one of the largest developers in the South Island.
The Riverstone Holdings directors are John Stuart Beattie, of Wanaka, Philip Studt Phillips, of Queenstown and Robert Hay Robertson, of Wanaka.