DOC offers olive branch to Punakaiki locals over parking fees

RNZ News

3 days ago

Tourists will pay $5 per hour to park at Punakaiki's Pancake Rocks.
Photo:
Lois Williams / LDR
The Conservation Department has offered a compromise over parking fees at Punakaiki's Pancake Rocks, after strong objections from locals.
Twelve free parks opposite the new Paparoa National Park Visitor Centre on State Highway 6 were removed in June by NZTA Waka Kotahi, leaving DOC's car park as the only option for motorists.
The pricing strategy released by DOC on Thursday for its paid parking trial starting next month, sets the fee at $5 an hour.
But Punakaiki locals will be allowed to park free of charge for 20 minutes, giving them time to pick up a coffee or their mail.
And all Buller and Grey residents will be able to buy a $10 permit giving them unlimited parking for a year.
Free parks opposite the new Paparoa National Park Visitor Centre were removed in June.
Photo:
LDR / Lois Williams
DOC heritage and visitor director Catherine Wilson said the department had received more than 150 submissions on its plan to start charging at its car parks at Punakaiki, Franz Josef and Aoraki Mt Cook.
"I think the majority of the submissions would have come from Punakaiki, and we understand that people might feel aggrieved - no one likes paying for parking - but we're trying to work out how to run DOC facilities that are costing us increasingly more.
"The proposed fee regime was a balancing act between the needs of local residents, trampers on multi-day hikes, day trippers and bus tour companies with DOC concessions, Wilson said.
The closest benchmark for the project was the car park at Milford Sound/Piopiotahi which charged $10 an hour.
After reviewing the submissions, DOC had set the Punakaiki charges at the lower $5 rate.
Concessionaires such as bus companies who already pay fees to operate on conservation land, will not have to pay for the time being.
"We are still working through that with the tourism operators, but during the pilot they can apply for a parking fee exemption," Wilson said.
DOC will also offer an annual parking permit for $60 for its Punakaiki and Franz Josef car parks, for any private vehicle owner, she said.
Many regular users of national parks came from further afield and the $60 option would benefit trampers on longer walks who needed to park their cars for several days, Wilson said.
Cafe owner Grant Parrett says visitor numbers plummet in winter and they need all the customers they can get. The car park is pictured in winter.
Photo:
Supplied / Grant Parrett
Café owner Grant Parrett has protested that the parking charges will penalise locals and are essentially an unlawful fee to enter a National Park.
"I suppose $5 an hour is not very much, but any paid parking is still enough to put the casual visitors off stopping and that will hurt local businesses.
"New Zealanders don't like paying for parking," Parrett said.
The 20-minute free parking period for locals was also not long enough to show a visitor around the Pancake Rocks, he said.
"It takes about an hour to do the walk, so we'll still have to pay to enter the National Park."
Wilson said some submitters had suggested an even shorter free period.
"We'll give 20 minutes a go through the pilot period and see how it works and how the pricing regime affects visitor flows."
Parking fees will be trialled at the tourist hotspot of Pancake Rocks.
Photo:
RNZ/Philippa Tolley
DOC expected to collect between $1 million and $1.2m from the Punakaiki and Franz Josef car parks over the nine month pilot programme, Wilson said.
She could not say if the revenue would be used to offset the cost of leasing space for the National Park Visitor Centre in the Punakaiki building, owned by Ngāti Waewae.
That figure was commercially sensitive, Wilson said.
But DOC was hugely short of funding for biodiversity work and any income it could attract would be put to good use.
"We're funded at $300 million, but if we were to fully deliver for all the endangered species we are trying to save, the cost would be about $2 billion a year," she said.
DOC will hold drop-in sessions at Punakaiki this month to seek feedback on the proposed parking fees.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.