More paid parking at South Island tourist sites after trial raises $1.5 million

Paid parking will continue at three popular South Island tourist destinations with more potential sites expected to be announced later this year.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) ran a seven-month pilot at Punakaiki, Franz Josef and Aoraki Mt Cook, raising more than $1.5 million.

DOC said the money would go towards better protecting nature, cultural heritage and other projects.

DOC heritage and visitors director Catherine Wilson said the pilot had been very successful and was generally accepted by visitors.

"Our monitoring shows that the introduction of paid parking hasn't impacted on the number of visitors to these sites or the use of the car parks," she said.

Wilson said DOC would make some changes as a result of feedback, including switching to half-hour rather than hourly increments, better signs and information, and cutting the 20-minute free period to 10 minutes at Punakaiki and Franz Josef.

"We've reduced the free period because people were rushing to complete the Pancake Rocks walk within 20 minutes and we want people to take the time they need to enjoy the experience," she said.

The $10 annual permit for locals would also be a one-off charge and cover two vehicles rather than one.

DOC was also considering introducing paid parking at other sites.

The paid parking pilot cost $3.8m to roll out over the 2025-2026 summer, which was paid for by the international visitor levy.

White Horse Hill at Aoraki Mt Cook raised $826,739 across 56,438 transactions, while Franz Josef raised $383,183 and Dolomite Point (Punakaiki) raised $301,652.