Fuel supplier McKeown’s has announced the shut-down of its self-service tank and pumps, located in front of separate, unrelated businesses Peake’s Kitchen and Papatowai Country Store.
The closure date given was March 10, but petrol has already run out, and diesel is dwindling fast.
"It’s taken everyone by surprise," Catlins ward councillor Dane Catherwood said.
"So we’ve really got to see if we can find a solution ... but a bit more of a heads-up would have been helpful."
McKewon’s managing director Ken McKeown said it was an "unfortunate" business decision.
"It’s a low-profile site [and] it’s not doing enough volume to justify the expense of fixing the problem," he said.
"Basically it’s compliance. You have to test it every year, it’s about $10,000 to test [and] they’ll condemn it because of the age ... It’s reached the end of life [and] we’ve got to make a hard decision and pull the pin on it.
"We sincerely apologise ... There’s no winners here."
He said there would also be expense in shutting down the site.
Papatowai Country Store owner Nicole Peake said people were disappointed in the decision and its short notice, but were hopeful other suppliers would quickly recognise an opportunity.
"It’s used all time by the local farmers, boaties and motorcycle users, and whether people want to admit it or not, the Catlins is an upcoming destination.
"It’s important to have the infrastructure and facilities in place now to accommodate that growth. Travellers want the Catlins on their itinerary and they want to know they can get fuel and not have range anxiety."
The nearest alternative fuel stations are in Owaka (25km) or Tokanui (50km).
The annual, long-running Papatowai Challenge fitness event, which regularly attracts more than 100 runners and walkers from as far as Dunedin and Southland, is set for this Saturday.
"We’ve reached out to other fuel operators and received a couple responses and an on-site visit from a company that expressed interest," Mrs Peake said.
She said they were trying all avenues to make sure visitors and locals filled their tanks before they headed to the area.
