Shame about the shuttle

I am disappointed the free bus shuttle service (being trialled) from the Volcano View Cafe on Egmont Rd to the North Egmont Visitors Centre has been stopped barely a month after starting because of teething problems which were adversely affecting the commercial viability of the aforementioned cafe. (TDN, February 11 ‘‘Free shuttle shut down’’).

I visited Joep Vergroesen (the cafe owner) after reading about these problems in the TDN.

I was encouraged to hear he is still positive about the shuttle’s potential, and is willing to give it another go – provided, of course, DOC and the NPDC have a better traffic management plan plus the ability to more thoroughly monitor car parking at the North Egmont Visitors Centre.

Volcano View Cafe can accommodate up to 70 vehicles (almost the same capacity as the Visitors Centre). But the cafe has been getting a haphazard spillover of visitors there who have been denied access at North Egmont because of traffic congestion.

Joep is adamant the problem would be nipped in the bud if there was an enforced parking limit of four hours (for non-self contained vehicles) at the Visitors Centre. He argues that people can currently park their vehicle at the Visitors Centre and go on a two-day tramp.

Clearly the onus is on DOC and the NPDC to get the legal authority to implement these necessary car parking restrictions.

Such changes would force longer users of the mountain to park outside of the North Egmont Visitors Centre, and that’s where Joep’s kind offer of car parking at his cafe becomes invaluable. Bryan Vickery

New Plymouth