Suitable case for a levy

For small communities of ratepayers which annually play host to fleeting tourist hordes, the issue of how to pay for and maintain essential infrastructure is one of great import.

Such services and amenities must be designed for and cater to peak numbers of temporary visitors to a community, but have to be paid for in the form of rates by the much smaller permanent population.

A particularly pertinent case in point is that of Stewart Island, where 400 residents must foot the bill for more than 36,000 tourists annually.

One effect of this is to push rates to levels which make the cost of living almost unsustainable on the island, and increase the downward population pressure; in turn this makes it increasingly difficult to maintain a thriving local tourism industry.

This week a Bill, introduced by Invercargill MP Eric Roy to address the situation, has its second reading in Parliament. The Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Bill would enable the council to charge a visitor levy to help fund infrastructure on the island.

While the legislation does not specify what such a levy might amount to, the sum of $5 has been suggested. It is difficult to see what the downsides of such a move might be. Just as great walks, national parks and other visitor attractions require upkeep and maintenance, so too do certain destinations, and it cannot always fall to the government - local or national - to provide the wherewithal.

Ordinarily, the biggest hurdle to the introduction of such a levy would be the difficulty of collecting and administering it.

But because of its geographical situation, Stewart Island is amply suited to surmount potential obstacles: there are two ways by far the majority of visitors travel to the island - by ferry and by air.

Clipping the ticket at either point of departure is a relatively simple process. And while there has been some concern voiced at the precedent-setting aspects of the legislation, there is also support for its extension to destinations that share similar characteristics.

Waiheke Island, Great Barrier Island and the Chatham Islands have been mentioned as other places likely to benefit from the same legislation.

There are, however, some destinations that might claim to confront identical problems but for which the solutions are not simple: Queenstown, for example, can and has argued in the past that its small resident population supports an infrastructure servicing much larger temporary populations.

The financial impost and cost of living implications for locals are barely sustainable, particularly for those employed in the comparatively low-wage service and hospitality industries, and acts as a disincentive to permanent residence.

Such a workforce will always be largely transient with the intermittent loss of skills and experience on which superior visitor experience depends. But how might such a levy be imposed and collected?

Accommodation providers are within their rights to suggest they should not have to administer such a scheme.

Should the Stewart Island levy be passed in Parliament, care must be taken to limit the extent of the scheme. It should not be considered carte blanche for any council that might wish to duplicate it. In the long term, it could dampen the appetite for tourism in this country.

Many visitors have travelled great distances and at considerable expense to get to New Zealand, and a constant hand held out for additional levies is bound eventually to irritate.

When, however, it applies to such special cases as small island communities, even the most budget-conscious traveller would have little reason to complain.

And another thing

Is not science wonderful? A team of researchers in the University of Otago zoology department has proved the existence of a species of storm petrel thought to be long extinct.

Using DNA techniques and samples from the skin of 150-year-old New Zealand storm petrels on display in Paris, the team matched those specimens with others found or captured in the Hauraki Gulf during the past few years.

The discovery has implications for conservation and ongoing protection of the species but also, for those of a romantic disposition, holds out hope for the rediscovery of other long-lost species. What price a new sighting of the South Island kokako?