I'm just quibbling with your interpretation of the consultation. I'm looking at the Library of Parliament briefing note here, and it states:
While the great majority of people consulted supported the protection of the entire watershed, of the 65 people who expressed a preference for any of the options, only two supported option 3.
That doesn't seem like a lot of people. Does the Library of Parliament have it wrong? It doesn't strike me, as you said, as overwhelming support from stakeholder groups.