Peter Owens reports
On 6 July Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson announced the cap on aircraft landings at Milford Sound aerodrome will be removed. The cap was introduced under the Fiordland National Park Management Plan in 2007 as a means of managing the accumulative adverse effects of aircraft activity.
In removing the cap, she signalled a commonsense approach to the problem of noise in the Milford Sound area of Fiordland.
While the cap is gone, concession applications will be reactivated for affected operators. Ms Wilkinson says the decision to remove the cap means DOC can reconsider applications, allowing all aircraft activity to be managed with a focus on mitigating their effects.
The Minister says DOC will now work with the tourism and aviation industries on the best ways to reduce noise levels. Using the limit established in the Park Plan, DOC ran a competitively contested allocation process for those wishing to land at Milford Sound.
As a result, a number of operators who had historically used Milford Aerodrome missed out on gaining concessions, which could have put their businesses at risk.
Ms Wilkinson says the decision to remove the cap means DOC can reconsider applications, allowing all aircraft activity to now be properly managed with a focus on mitigating their effects.
“An arbitrary cap on landings is a blunt instrument that unfortunately could have put air operators out of business, without actually addressing the impacts of the activity on the environment,” she says.
The national organisation for tramping and alpine clubs is upset that the cap on aircraft landings at Milford aerodrome has been removed. Federated Mountain Clubs president Richard Davies says the limit was introduced following a robust consultation process and it’s disappointing that the industry has gone to the minister and had it removed.
Records show annual tourism flight landings have not reached 9000 for the past nine years, as the weather means aircraft can only fly on roughly 200–250 days every year. The minister says the cap was unnecessary as the weather acts as a natural cap.
Milford Sound is known as one of New Zealand’s most iconic tourism destinations, recognised for its grandeur and natural beauty and attracting over 500,000 visitors per year.
“We want to support the tourism industry and by removing the cap DOC is in a better position to work with all operators to ensure the values that make Milford Sound special are protected,” says Ms Wilkinson.
- Published in the August 2011 Issue