Feedback on DOC’s Proposed Car Park Pricing at White Horse Hill

The Department of Conservation (DOC) is trialling car parking fees at White Horse Hill (Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park), Franz Josef, and Dolomite Point (Punakaiki) starting December 2025.

DOC will review the trial in July 2026 to decide whether to keep the fees and possibly roll them out to other locations. The parking pilots are funded with $3.8 million from the International Visitor Levy, and DOC expects $1.5 million in revenue from the three locations by July 2026.

FMC is concerned about the impact these changes could have on regular visitors, volunteers, and hunters – not just at these three sites, but potentially across the country.

FMC submitted on the pricing proposals for Franz Josef and Punakaiki in August, and on White Horse Hill in July.

FMC has now provided its third submission to DOC, specifically on the White Horse Hill pricing strategy. Our submission highlighted:

• If DOC decides to continue and expand car park fees, they should introduce national car parking permits.
• Implementing car parking permits for conservation volunteers. Volunteers who help maintain conservation areas should never have to pay car park fees.

We also offered further suggestions:

• Setting up a park-and-ride at Mt Cook Airport
• Working with nearby lodges (Wyn Irwin, Tahr, Unwin) on exemptions
• Encouraging safe parking without relying on costly on-the-ground supervision.

FMC will continue to engage with DOC on this matter to ensure fair access to public conservation land for both visitors, volunteers, and other frequent recreationalists, as we did for the Punakaiki and Franz Josef pilots.