Residents change tactics as fuel prices hit

Rising fuel prices are changing the way Nelson locals move around, with some opting to bike, walk, or shop closer to home as the cost of petrol and diesel bites.

Several of those canvassed in the CBD on Thursday morning by the Nelson Mail reported the fuel crisis was having an impact on habits as well as on pockets.

Madeleine Tyson was on Nelson’s Trafalgar St shopping on Thursday morning, having come in by bike.

“It is making a big difference to the way that we are getting around,” Tyson said.

“Even today, we were going to drive out to Richmond and go out to Kmart, and then I suddenly thought, actually, we won’t go out there, we’ll shop locally and go on the bike, save money there, and just stay in town.”

he’s gone from usually putting in about $30 a week into her car, to spending about $40 or $50 a top-up, and is trying to bike or walk more.

“It’s good for exercise, and we’re getting fitter. We’re lucky because we are able-bodied, and we’re not in winter yet. So come winter, we’ll be wanting to use the car a lot more,” she said.

“But I’m not feeling too stressed … we just have to factor it into the budget.”

Tyson lives in The Wood, and said she felt sorry for those in big cities where they had to commute: “It must be painful.”

Gill Gane, who is a small manufacturer of ceramics in Nelson and also a designer, said fuel was a big issue for her.

“I do have places I have to go, people I have to get around, and I do feel extremely nervous about where the cost of everything is going to end, because they’re now saying the global economy is going to be quite impacted,” she said.

Gane said she was concerned for those who were living hand-to-mouth.

Pensioner Terence Bracey lives in an apartment on Haven Rd, and walks everywhere.

However, he said he was “really pissed off” at the price of petrol. Bracey said the Government should take the lead from Australia and reduce the fuel excise on petrol and diesel.

“The Government doesn’t seem to care. They just want to keep their money there to make their dollars,” he said.

While he rarely drives his car, what used to cost $30 in petrol now sets him back nearly $60 for the same amount of 91, a price he described as “ridiculous”.

Plumber Robert de Kock said he waited until his diesel ute was half full and then refilled, “psychologically tricking” himself into thinking he wasn’t spending too much.

“I do think about trips a bit more, as in if I am driving to Tapawera or Kenepuru to do a job, I make sure I don’t do two trips, just be a bit more aware of how far I’m going, and I make sure I’ve got everything or try and get a couple of jobs together instead of just driving out there willy-nilly.”

In the plumbing business, the 30% hike in the price of PVC pipes forecast for next month was going to have to be passed on to customers. People had to be careful about doing quotes too far in advance, he said.

However, overall, de Kock wasn’t particularly concerned about the crisis at this point.

“Shit happens. We’ve been through so much in the last 10 years, it’s nothing new. I think we all take it in our stride.”

By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail