This article was first published by RNZ
A South Waikato official is calling for people to take responsibility for their actions to protect a nearly five-kilometre walkway at the Blue Spring near Putāruru.
South Waikato Mayor Gary Petley said cars are reportedly parking dangerously along the route, coins are tossed into the water and rubbish is caught in the trees all around.
Other officials want help to further manage and protect the country’s assets and taonga.
Regional Council chairperson Warren Maher told Morning Report the issues are caused by poor behaviour and an influx of visitors.
“There is a composting toilet on the walkway, but what’s happening is visitors are actually throwing rubbish down it, so there was an issue with that blocking up which had to bring in contractors to clear that out,” he said.
“People are throwing coins into the springs, I mean, it’s not a wishing well, it is a beautiful natural environment out there, and then of course the illegal and dangerous parking which are causing some major issues on those roadways leading in.”
He said if the toilets get blocked up, people could start using the sides of the walkways instead.
“That’s going to get into the waterways, we just don’t want that happening,” he said.
“People need to take a little bit of responsibility, it’s a beautiful area, it’d be a shame if access was restricted because of these ongoing issues.”
Maher said there was potential for an access fee to be put in place.
He suggested the idea of busing people to the site.
“You get a little bit of return, you get a little bit of money coming into the local area, bit like they’ve done up in Cathedral Cove up on the Coromandel,” he said.
“It’s something I think that needs to be looked at, just to help manage that heavy population that’s heading out there through this peak holiday time.”
Maher raised concerns about the costs of extra work along the track falling back on ratepayers.
“To me, it should be a little bit of give and take,” he said.
Maher conceded it wouldn’t be possible to restrict access to only those who have paid.
“You’d have to provide some sort of service, I think, to be able to put some sort of target on it as a such.”
He believed some of the International Visitor Levy should be reinvested into local councils to support their work.
“Tourism is one of our big earners, as such, especially around the Waikato,” Maher said.
“We’ve got some pretty amazing sites, so it’d be nice to see some of that money come into those local councils, just to help support the work that’s actually done on the ground that the people are coming to visit.”
By RNZ’s Morning Report.
