No answer off pat

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 4

No answer off pat

The West Coast Tourism Council hopes visitors will be undeterred by deposits of cow dung littering the region’s roads. Although some tourist operators believe travellers are merely going through the motions as they motor along the scenic coastline between Karamea and Haast, other more enterprising operators feel cow dung could be promoted as a tourist, attraction — part of the unique West Coast experience. The vice-president of the Buller Promotion Association, Mr Ross Fisher, raised the issue at yesterday’s Tourism Council meeting in Westport. He said the problem was prevalent in the

Buller district. “We have a lot of camper vans in the area and when the stuff hits the hot exhaust pipes it makes quite a stink. People have to sleep in these vans,” he said. Mr Fisher was quickly assured that the problem, was not confined to his area. Delegates felt local authorities or Government bodies should do something to prevent Friesians’ faeces from soiling the streets. However, the Mayor of Runanga, Mr Tom Teasdale, said the National Roads Board had been alerted many times but the consensus was cows have as much right to use the road as humans.

A Buller County Council member, Mr Bill Mumm, said cows were not the only guilty party. Human occupants of “home-made camper vans” had been known to relieve themselves on the side of roads. Mr Stephen McGrath pooh-poohed the problem, saying cow dung smelled wonderful.” "There’s nothing wrong with it.” The council chairman, Mr Ralph Fegan, ended the debate with, “I think we are getting a little bogged down here.” He suggested the council write to the National Roads Board about the problem.