Whitianga tour boat operators, who may soon face an extra $1-a-passenger fee, have blasted the council for not consulting them.

Staff at Thames-Coromandel District Council have recommended a “district-wide $1 passenger fee for tour and charter operators using council-managed harbour facilities”.

A report to the council’s September meeting proposed introducing it by November 1.

Two angry Whitianga-based operators – Zinnia Harris of Ocean Leopard Tours and Mark Jones of Glass Bottom Boat Whitianga – told councillors they weren’t consulted, after months of being promised they would be.

Mayor Peter Revell admitted “we did get it wrong” and councillors agreed to a pause in the plan. Staff will report back in December.

Ocean Leopard Tours was promised a say on the changes, Harris told councillors at Tuesday’s meeting.

Mark Jones operates tour company Glass Bottom Boat Whitianga, taking users from Whitianga to tourist hotspot Cathedral Cove. Photo / Christel Yardley, Waikato Times

“On the 29th of August, councillor [Flemming] Rasmussen told us in writing, staff would seek our input on phased implementation and charging models and that our feedback would go back to elected members.

“That conversation hasn’t happened with us, but staff have already prepared their recommendations. We want a fair consultation on how we should be charged.”

Jones agreed with his industry colleague, adding that there was an “absolute lack of public consultation” with key stakeholders of the Whitianga Wharf.

“Councillors, if you are true to your words and what you have emailed me over and over, you’ll have to choose Option 3 [defer until next Long-Term Plan],” he added.

Revell “formally and sincerely” apologised to both speakers.

Thames-Coromandel District Council Mayor Peter Revell admitted the council’s failings to the aggrieved boat operators. Photo / Mark Taylor, Waikato Times

“When we give undertakings and we talk about being transparent and we talk about being people of integrity … a situation developing like this should weigh on us all. We must do better.”

Rasmussen asked Harris if a flat fee charge would be adequate for operators, but in a long-winded way that led the mayor to say Rasmussen was trying to get his own point across.

After the pair talked loudly over one another, Revell sternly asked Rasmussen “would you please stop and let her answer the question?”

“A flat fee is a fair approach,” Harris answered.

“How council approaches what that fee should look like is something that needs discussion. Whitianga Wharf is not a dedicated commercial wharf so we really need to consider what contribution the ratepayers should pay.”

Councillors decided to delay the implementation of the fee to “allow time for discussions with the commercial tour and charter operators regarding the options for a future charging regime for council’s consideration”.

The debate follows the installation of a new $1.3 million pontoon at Whitianga Wharf. Photo / Mark Taylor, Waikato Times

The deadline was changed from December 1, then January 1 and eventually removed altogether to give staff more time to engage properly, Revell said.

The passenger fee is in the council’s 26/27 Annual Plan and came with a swathe of new harbour fees and charges, forming a broader user-pays approach.

The passenger fee has been in place in the Coromandel ward since 2013.

The report writer, district manager Dean Allen, told councillors that staff were not in a position to consult on whether a fee should be in place or not given it was in the Annual Plan.

“When we do meet with the users we’ll be looking to gather feedback in that way that can be used in a council conversation.”

With $16 million of capital investment forecast in harbour assets over the planning period district-wide, staff used Mercury Bay ward to show the gap between running costs and revenue.

Thames Coromandel councillor Flemming Rasmussen had told boat operators staff would consult them about the passenger fee. Photo / Thames-Coromandel District Council

Operation costs were $429,000 in the 25/26 financial year. About 6% of those costs ($26,000) was covered by what the council received from commercial tour and charter operators (excluding the Whitianga ferry operator).

If councillors had put the decision off until the long-term plan process, there would be an estimated $50,000-$80,000 revenue cost, a report said.

“This demonstrates the significant gap between the cost of providing harbour infrastructure and the revenue currently recovered from commercial users.”

Concerns surrounding revenue reinvestment, exemptions for community and educational bookings, and the handling of commercially sensitive information were also raised by operators, Allen added.

Staff have been asked to provide a report at the council’s December meeting.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.