Milford Opportunities Newsletter
March 2023
Milford Opportunities Board Chair to retire
Milford Opportunities Board Chair Dr Keith Turner is to retire at the end of this month. After five years as chair, he believes the project is in excellent shape and the time is now right to handover to someone who can pick up and run with it.
Dr Turner’s leadership has been pivotal for the project to date, and the whole Milford Opportunities Team extend their sincere thanks and appreciation for the phenomenal contribution he has made to the project.
Read more online: Milford Opportunities Board Chair to retire | Milford Opportunities (buzzit.co.nz)
1 March 2023
Tourism Minister’s visit
Minister Peeni Henare, travelled to Te Anau, as an extension of his visit to Queenstown, to meet local tourism operators.
The Milford Opportunities Project provides a valuable test case for transformational change of tourism in line with the strategic direction from the New Zealand-Aotearoa Government Tourism Strategy. As Minister for Tourism and one of the three Minister’s overseeing the Milford Opportunities Project, Minister Henare was keen to hear the latest on the project while connecting with a group of local tourism operators in the Milford Opportunities Hub.
2 March 2023
Engaging on the Masterplan – huts and tracks
The Milford Opportunities Unit facilitated the first of many engagement sessions to be held over the coming year looking at the recommendations of the Milford Opportunities Masterplan.
The first session was in relation to tracks and huts. The purpose of the session was to review and start feasibility testing each of the proposed tracks outlined in the Masterplan. On the night, the team and stakeholders discussed what had been proposed and received invaluable feedback from those who were able to attend in person, or via the web link. The feedback from this session is currently being consolidated and will be sent out to stakeholders to ensure that the essence of the discussion was captured.
View the Masterplan’s recommendations regarding tracks and huts online by visiting: Home – Milford Opportunities
This session was for key recreation stakeholders and experts but if you are interested in feeding into this work we’d love to hear from you. Contact us – Milford Opportunities
Testing the Masterplan
Transport and Infrastructure
The Milford Opportunities Transport & Infrastructure team has been working on the development of briefs and tender documents for the engagement of consultants from a variety of disciplines.
The consultant’s task is to test the feasibility of the transport and infrastructure proposals in the master plan. The team hopes to issue the first of the requests for tender in April. Examples of professions we will be looking to engage include: architects; engineers; experts in developing walking and cycling experiences; and terrestrial and aquatic ecologists.
Policy
The Policy team is continuing to work through the potential policy and legislative implications arising from the masterplan recommendations, with particular focus on managed road access, charging international visitors, commercial activities and a management and governance model.
This includes looking at what change could potentially be enabled under existing arrangements and legislative frameworks.
Find out more about the Milford Opportunities Project: www.milforfopportunities.nz
