Minister to gather Milford flights info

Investigations into revising Milford Sound landing rights restrictions will continue today when Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson makes a surprise, "information gathering" visit to the area.

The ministry is considering revising the system, which left three traditional operators without any landing rights after the Department of Conservation finalised a "packet allocation" system in October 2008.

Former Conservation Minister Tim Groser proposed two options last year, to continue with the existing process or increase the number of landings up to 12,637 to accommodate everyone who applied for concessions.

Mrs Wilkinson was scheduled to arrive in Invercargill last night and will attend the opening of the upgraded Dumpling Hut, on the Milford Track today.

But she will also make a stop at the aerodrome to collect information about the landing rights situation.

Southland Conservation Board chairwoman Viv Shaw and Milford operators were unaware of Mrs Wilkinson's visit when told by The Southland Times yesterday, but were happy she was in the area gathering information.

Totally Tourism owner Mark Quickfall said he had planned to talk to the minister at a West Coast Tourism Forum on March 27 about the landing rights but operators had already expressed their view.

The submission process had closed and it was up to the minister to make her decision and everyone would have to wait and see what that was, he said.

Queenstown Milford Users Group commercial chairman Lloyd Matheson said he had heard nothing about how the decision was progressing. "No news is good news, we're waiting in anticipation," he said.

Mrs Shaw had not heard about Mrs Wilkinson's visit but said she had already talked to the minister about the board's viewpoint on the landing rights.

Mrs Wilkinson said the matter was entering its final stage of consultation and expected a decision to be reached within six months.

She would visit the Milford airport, listen to aircraft noise on land and water and visit Mitre Peak to gather more information, she said.

Mrs Wilkinson said she understood operators were facing uncertainty and were unsure whether to invest in their business but the decision could not be rushed.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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