Pay and display? No way, say beach residents

Erwin Drok says people come to Whangapoua to get away from reminders of the city, like parking meters. Photo / Alan Gibson

The prospect of pay-and-display parking machines cemented into the shores of isolated beaches has stirred up communities in one of the North Island's most picturesque holiday spots.

The Thames-Coromandel District Council's 10-year plan included a move to charge parking fees at boat ramps on the peninsula. From next summer, boaties will be charged $6 a launch or $65 a year for parking near ramps and formed accesses.

The public consultation process starts next week, and community boards at isolated beaches will face the protests of residents who feel urban rules are encroaching on their quiet paradise.

Users of Whangamata and Coromandel boat ramps have been charged for parking for more than five years. But residents of beachfront communities such as Matarangi and Whangapoua say those ramps are in commercial, urbanised areas, and there is no need for council regulation in secluded bays.

Whangapoua Ratepayers Association chairman Erwin Drok said residents were unanimous in their opposition to the parking fees.

They were frustrated that the council could charge users for parking around a ramp which was built and maintained by locals.

"People come here to relax and recharge," said Mr Drok. "If we're going to have a pay-and-display machine concreted into the boat ramp we may as well be in the city.

"This ... could happen nationwide, where people have left civilisation only to see urban rules in place."

He said that in summer the ramps became crowded by up to 150 boats launching a day.

"But people deal with this in practical ways, by getting family members to take their trailers home."

Shop owner Steve Ferguson said people would use alternative launching sites to avoid paying. He said boaties would drive on to the beach at the western end of Whangapoua, which would disturb dotterel nests and fill the beach with vehicles.

Mercury Bay area manager Leslie McCormick said charging for parking at ramps had worked well in the Coromandel and Whangamata regions.

Revenue from the parking fees would be used to maintain boat ramps, wharves and jetties, and pay for other harbour activities such as dredging.

Boaties in Whangamata paid $35,000 in parking levies last year. The council expected a similar amount from each of the Tairua-Pauanui and Whitianga areas.

Environmental Services manager Craig Birkett said there was a public consultation process before the fees were introduced.

Feedback from community boards would help the council decide how the fees will be enforced, and which boat ramps would have parking costs.