Free shuttle shut down
Free weekend shuttles to the North Egmont visitor centre have been abruptly suspended after the man providing the pick-up point pulled his support for the service.
Volcano View cafe owner Joep Vergroesen said the shuttle, which left from his car park on Egmont Rd, was having a negative impact on his business as people were using his facilities but not contributing to his bottom line.
‘‘Twenty-five people show up and walk almost straight through and only want to make use of my toilet, and I have to clean my toilet three times in the morning,’’ he said.
Vergroesen is also unhappy with the management of the North Egmont car park, where he wants to see preference to shortterm visitors over those leaving their car there for a number of days while they tramp in the park.
The shuttle trial, which has only been running for a matter of weeks, was put in place by the New Plymouth District Council, the Department of Conservation and Vergroesen, as a way to manage summer congestion at the popular visitor centre. It is not known when the service will resume. In a written statement council infrastructure manager David Langford said they wanted to thank the cafe for their generosity. ‘‘The service was a trial and it hasn’t worked out for their business so we’ve paused it while we put together a new plan.
‘‘We’ll be reviewing it this week with a view to getting it up and running again as soon as possible.’’
Vergroesen said if the council and DOC came up with a better plan that involved making longterm visitors to the North Egmont visitor centre park elsewhere, and moving non-self contained freedom campers out of the car park, he would be more than happy to listen.