Freedomcamping bylaw working well
Freedom camping is causing fewer headaches in Golden Bay this year, and council staff are happy with how the new rules are working.
Last summer the area was inundated with travellers parking up around Takaka, in particular along the river at Reilly St, where hundreds of people had set up camp.
Tasman District Council regulatory manager Adrian Humphries said a new bylaw which outlawed freedom camping in most of Golden Bay was working well.
Two areas with basic facilities for freedom campers were at Waitapu Bridge in Takaka and at Taupata Point in Puponga.
Humphries said both spots were busy. It had not received reports of other areas being particularly busy elsewhere in the bay.
‘‘Our main concerns there have been that the places are too popular and sometimes vans park too close to each other for safety and in Waitapu too close to the river.’’
There had been ‘‘far less complaints than in previous years’’.
The provision of basic facilities and specific areas for non-selfcontained campers seemed to be a practical way of lessening negative effects, he said.
About a dozen complaints had been received, mostly about the library car park in Takaka and children’s play area, and at the times about the river flooding.
There had been one complaint about the reserve at Parapara and at the Collingwood cemetery, plus several more at other areas.
‘‘More complaints are made to our officer in the bay and she deals with this when she patrols. She pre-empts a lot of issues by visiting the most popular spots.’’
TDC enforcement officers had issued about 70 infringement notices across the district this summer, with about 10 of those in Golden Bay.
It had also seen the ‘‘usual problems’’ with people camping in reserves such as at Rototai.
There were serious concerns about freedom campers’ safety during two recent heavy rain events.
However, Humphries said a lot of effort was put in by civil defence staff, police and council to warn and move people from high risk areas.
Humphries said there was no ‘‘silver bullet’’ for freedom camping, but it would continue to do the best it could.
River Inn owner Richard Sixtus said he noticed freedom camping was more controlled this year.
‘‘We live by the Waitapu Bridge, and my daughter lives beside it, and we notice people are turning up and staying for the night, and then they disperse through the day and are gone.’’
Golden Bay ward councillor Sue Brown said it had made ‘‘a huge difference’’ that the Luminate Festival on the Takaka Hill wasn’t on this year, and that SH1 to Kaikoura was open again.
‘‘The only complaints I’ve had is people parking at the beach [river’s edge] at Waitapu and actually camping there, and people having to go down and ask them to move,’’ she said.
TDC is allocating a $335,000 grant from the Government’s Tourism Infrastructure Grant to improve facilities in Golden Bay. This will include solar-powered rubbish compactors and another toilet at Waitapu, plus a shower and wash-basin at the Takaka Visitor Centre.