By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE
OMAIO - A tiny East Coast fuel stop ran out of petrol this week, giving motorists a taste of things to come.
The Omaio convenience store and pumps is the only outlet left between Opotiki and Waihau Bay after the unexpected closure last month of the Te Kaha shop
and service station.
Now the Omaio fuel stop is under threat, which would leave travellers nowhere to refuel along a 100km stretch of State Highway 35.
Omaio store owner Doug Wright has been told Shell will remove its aged underground tanks at the end of June because they are an environmental risk.
Because the bowsers provide 60 per cent of his turnover, Mr Wright's 10-year business will no longer be viable.
"It's like a sinking ship. At what stage do you jump off?" he said.
When owner Paul O'Brien closed the Te Kaha store and petrol pumps 10km away, blaming an economic downturn along the coast, Mr Wright's business was boosted briefly - his fuel sales doubled.
But on Wednesday he ran out of petrol and is unable to get his standard fortnightly tanker delivery brought forward, leaving the pumps empty for another week.
During the morning, several motorists found themselves unable to fill up at the seaside settlement. They could have bought petrol earlier at Waihau Bay or Tirohanga, just out of Opotiki, but had not.
"Until our tanks are gone, we will have erratic fuel supplies," Mr Wright said. "People have just got to get used to not having petrol here and that is all there is to it. A lot of them do not realise the remoteness.
"They don't fill up when they have the chance and then find there are no longer any little gas stations along the way."
The Omaio store, open 70 hours a week, serves a population of about 500, scattered sparsely around the area. Mr Wright says the community revolves around it.
