Soapy scandal: Free-for-all for locals after failure to install coin machine at 'pay-per-use' tourist showers

Moonlight Tops Hut on the Paparoa Track. Photo / Paparoagreatwalk.co.nz

A new pay-per-use shower block designed for trampers and cyclists at the end of a popular West Coast walking track is in hot water after it emerged the coin machines were never installed.

And locals in the Blackball township have been taking full advantage of the free service, showering up a storm in the publicly funded facility.

The hot showers and toilets were designed to be used by people coming off the Paparoa Track.

The plan was the showers would be coin operated - but it has been revealed by the Greymouth Star that the coin machine was never installed.

Most people using the track enter from the Blackball end, rather than ending their walk in the small town.

So, locals have reportedly been making use of the free showers instead.

The showers, situated in McEwen Park in the centre of town, cost $100,000 to construct and have an annual maintenance and cleaning cost of $25,000.

The build was Government-funded but the ongoing costs will be paid by ratepayers through the Grey District Council.

Upon learning the coin machine was not installed, the council told the Greymouth Star that making them pay-per-use would "invite theft".

Installing a token machine would come at an extra cost.

Eastern ward Councillor Anton Backer said the thought behind the showers was to make some money for the community.

However, the high cost of maintaining the facility had "undermined" that concept.

"We have had complaints about locals using them, which is not what they were designed for," he said.

"And I don't think we should be going down a track to turn it into a money-making venture.

Blackball is on the West Coast, about half an hour from Greymouth. Image / Google

"We need to monitor who is using them and look at what way we are going to go.

"We want to encourage people to come to Blackball - but the showers were not built for the locals to use."

Blackball, 25km northwest of Greymouth, is home to under 300 people.

The Paparoa Track is New Zealand's 10th Great Walk and along with the Pike 29 Memorial Track was built to remember the 29 miners who lost their lives in the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster.

The Paparoa Track begins near Blackball, an old mining town on the east of the Paparoa Range.

It finishes in the world-famous home of the Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki.