Eastern Bay boaties wanting to use Whakatāne District Council boat ramps from Thursday next week, will need to purchase a virtual local resident permit first.

The permit has a one-off fee of $20 and can be renewed annually at no cost.

Anyone from outside the Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki or Kawerau districts will need to purchase a day pass.

The implementation of boat ramp fees follows a decision made by the council in June this year during adoption of its Fees and Charges Schedule.

The charges reflect the increased costs of maintaining the facilities.

Day passes will cost $20 for those using the Whakatāne boat ramp and $10 for those using the Ōkōrero (Thornton) or Ōhiwa boat ramp.

The virtual permits and day passes will be available through vPermit, a cloud-based digital parking system rolled out across corporate, government and tertiary sites last year.

They will be linked to vehicle licence plates and licence plate recognition cameras will be used to monitor vehicles using the ramp.

Boat ramp users will need access to a computer or smartphone, upload a utility bill or bank statement as proof of address and pay via direct credit, credit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay.

Links to the payment portal and step-by-step guides on how to use it will be made available on the council’s website once the boat ramp fee system is in place.