Public meeting to discuss future of fuel supplies at Houhora

The future of fuel supplies at Houhora will be discussed at a public meeting next week.

The settlement 41 km north of Kaitaia will have no fuel after the Mobil Houhora Service Station’s contract with Allied Petroleum runs out at the end of October.

Houhora and Pukenui residents will have to travel 46 km north to Waitiki Landing for fuel or fill up at Awanui 36 km to the south.

The Far North District Council, Te Hiku Community Board and Far North Holdings plan to hold a meeting at the Houhora Community Hall on September 14 at 11am to help businesses and residents find a solution to the problem.

Council chief executive David Edmunds says the purpose of the meeting is to gauge community support for continued petrol and diesel sales at Houhora.

It will also try to establish whether or not that support would be sufficient to enable a fuel provider to run a fuel supply facility in a way that would be economically viable.

“The key message is nobody is going to put a fuel supply in there unless you guys support it.”

Mobil Houhora Service Station owner Allen Ujdur has sold petrol and diesel at Pukenui for 15 years, five years under the BP brand and 15 years under Mobil.

He says he won’t renew his contract with Allied Petroleum because there’s not enough business to make fuel trading viable.

“The only support you get is from contractors and that is not enough.”

Having to renew fuel tanks that were installed 19 years ago is also costly.

“It’s half a million dollars for new tanks, but I don’t own the property so banks won’t even look at it.”