Campers’ filth upsets resident
A Nelson resident is demanding the council crack down on illegal campers defecating at the Queen Elizabeth II Drive camping spot.
Appalled by a prevalence of human excrement and homelessness at the site, Jim Williamson said ‘‘more active management’’ was needed from Nelson City Council in dealing with illegal camping behaviour.
Williamson said since late last year, he had seen several incidences of human faeces and discarded toilet paper around the bushes beside the site.
‘‘I came down here and there was fresh crap in the bushes, and by the looks of things someone had then stood in it and smeared it – the great big brown stain is still there and there’s toilet paper everywhere.’’
The proximity of the nearest toilet was 300m away from the camping area and required campers to cross State Highway 6 to access amenities.
Williamson said those in smaller self-contained vans or non-compliant vehicles would be unlikely to make the walk, especially in the middle of the night.
‘‘The whole notion of these tiny campervans having a toilet that they’d use while someone is sleeping right next to them ... can you imagine that happening, as opposed to saying ‘I’ll just jump out and go in the bushes?’
‘‘[Council] either puts some toilets in here or they stop this.’’
It was on discovering the mess in the bushes that Williamson also discovered a couple of welldisguised dwellings further along from the carpark area.
‘‘I started wandering down to try and find how far along they were going into the bushes, and lo and behold there’s a tent right in between the trees.’’
In recent months, he had seen at least three situations of people living there, with the dwellings concealed in the bushes beyond the carpark area.
While he accepted inroads had been made to contain the freedom camping influx in the last 12 months, the consequences of ignoring illegal camping behaviour had the potential to snowball.
‘‘Then we get the Lewis Stanton situation again, the same with Tasman District ignoring the situation in Takaka – the River People ... this is like the waterfront tribe.’’
The Nelson City Council Freedom Camping Bylaw 2017, which came into force on December 1, banned freedom camping, restricting the use of city space to those in self-contained vehicles, and setting a limit on the number of vehicles able to use designated parking zones.
At the QEII Drive Gardens site, certified self-contained vehicles can stay for a maximum of two consecutive nights at the QEII Drive Gardens ‘‘in any available defined car parking areas’’.
Since January, he had sent two letters to the council and made several phone calls to express his concerns.
In a written response to Williamson, NCC group manager community services Chris Ward said the area was patrolled twice daily by its contractor Environmental Inspections Limited, with ‘‘virtually all’’ campers found to be genuinely meeting the selfcontainment certification.
Responding to questions from the Nelson Mail, Ward said on the whole there had been fewer issues than the previous summer, however the council continued to receive complaints about noncomplying campers.
‘‘Disappointingly, there are also areas where there is evidence campers are using the bushes to go to the toilet. Council officers are keeping this under review, and will meet after the busy tourist season to discuss what can be done, if anything, to improve the situation for next summer.’’
Ward said the installation of additional toilets had been considered, however this would come at a cost to ratepayers.
While the council did provide facilities over the 2016/17 season, general feedback received at that time suggested that ratepayers should not be subsidising them.
‘‘The logic behind banning non-self-contained vehicles was that having toilets nearby should not be necessary as the freedom campers staying overnight should all be self-contained.
‘‘Unfortunately there does appear to be some campers who despite being certified selfcontained are choosing to use the bushes,’’ Ward said.
Regarding the tent-dwellers, Ward said along with most other cities, Nelson had a small population of homeless people who, if they sleep in tents or shelters on public land, are technically also in breach of the city’s freedom camping regulations.
For these people council would work with social agencies to find solutions as a first response.