Jim Harre and John Hamilton were on a trip around the South Island earlier this month when they drove to the Paparoa National Park on the West Coast to visit the Punakaiki Visitor Centre, the home of the Pancake Rocks.
The two men arrived just after 5pm to find the visitor centre shut and what they described as ambiguous directions on the signs. They parked out the back and went for a walk for about 40 minutes. Returning to their vehicles they were stung with a $75 fine each for not paying the parking charge.
The two men said they had no idea there was a parking charge and Mr Harre said it was an expensive 40 minutes.
But after some thought, they are questioning the charge and the reason for it.
"We have a $45 million visitor centre there and that has been given to Ngāi Tahu. One would have thought if you [are] given a $45 million centre then you wouldn’t be worrying about money," Mr Harre said.
Mr Hamilton said he last visited Punakaiki 50 years ago and there was no charge then.
The men also said they had to pay the fine to parking company Stellar and wondered how much of the cut it was getting.
Mr Harre said he had paid the $75 but it was still annoying.
"Surely there should be something with the big visitor centre there that can say if you are a New Zealander you get it free and if you are from overseas you have to pay.
"Sure we get the user pays argument and we have used but through tax we have paid."
Mr Hamilton said the pair wanted to be vocal about the carparking so the Department of Conservation would be aware people were against the parking scheme.
Doc had introduced a paid parking trial to three sites — Punakaiki, Franz Josef Glacier and White Horse Hill. It started in December and ends in June this year.
The idea of charging just foreign tourists was never considered and there were options for local residents and regular visitors.
Stellar was paid for its services but the amount was commercially sensitive.
"So far the paid parking pilot has generated around $800,000 in gross revenue. The payment stations have been working well with a few technical problems that have been addressed quickly. This is a pilot, so we are interested in learning what works well and what doesn’t," she said.
She said there had been some resistance from a few people but the vast majority accepted the charges and paid.
"Research consistently shows that international visitors are usually astonished there are no charges for facilities at our national parks."
Money raised after expenses would go towards Doc projects as the department needed more funds.
