Wairoa District Council isn’t backing down on its decision to charge a railbike tourism operator more than $10,000 a year in rates, with one councillor saying the business “needs to stand on its own”.
Railbike Adventures operations manager Geoff Main has transformed the derelict rail line between Wairoa and Māhia into a railbike attraction to match his offering on the same line further north in Gisborne.
But after Covid and weather-related delays, Main realised the business would struggle to be sustainable when Wairoa District Council declined to offer a rates remission for his use of the line.
He does not pay rates on the Gisborne line and KiwiRail, as a Crown entity, does not pay rates when it uses the line.
Main, who opened the Māhia attraction in 2020 and continues to operate, said council representatives, KiwiRail and Quotable Value had met with him in an attempt at mediation last week.
He said the purpose of the meeting was to explore any chance of a rate reassessment, reduction or rebate with consideration for the fact they are being rated at commercial value for land attached to the lease that is inaccessible or unusable.
Wairoa District Council (WDC) had charged him for the full 22km corridor area - a total of 124 hectares - at commercial rates, despite only the line itself being usable for commercial purposes.
“WDC representatives refused to recognise any justification for any rates rebate given the anomaly of land actually used and/or the usability of the land,” Main said.
“They are steadfast in their resolve to charge Railbike Adventures general commercial rates unless otherwise advised.”
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said he had a positive meeting with Geoff Main of Railbike Adventures and encouraged him to work with KiwiRail around the details of the rates component of his lease arrangement.
“Wairoa District Council has applied the same rating legislation as it would for any other business leasing railway land as per the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.”
Main said his total rates bill that he owed for the past three years of Railbike Adventures leasing the Māhia line would be $40,765 in June.
“We are hugely disappointed with the Wairoa District Council stance, it suggests that if you are thinking about Wairoa to set up [a tourism business] – keep driving.”
Yet councillor Jeremy Harker said he stood by the council’s decision to not offer a rates remission to the business.
“If we start making allowances for one business versus the other it’s not fair on the other businesses,” Harker said.
“There is a lot of work done to encourage tourism, but at the same time a business has got to stand on its own and every other business that is here in Wairoa does that.”
Napier MP Katie Nimon, whose electorate stretches into Māhia, said she was open to a discussion with Main about the issue.
“I’ve got a huge amount of sympathy for tourism businesses and especially tourism businesses that have a positive impact on the environment, and we need to do as much as we can to support them.”
She said councils were facing ever-increasing costs.
“It is important for the council to be able to rate businesses and properties residential and commercial so that it can do what is required.”
She said the railway line had potential benefits for the whole region if it could successfully be turned into a cycle attraction.
In the meantime, Main was continuing to operate his attraction on the Māhia railway track and will look at reducing the area in the lease with KiwiRail to make the cost manageable.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.