Site sought to pitch KiwiCamp
Government funds of $300,000 may be lost if the Tasman District Council cannot find a spot to pitch a ‘‘KiwiCamp’’ ablution unit for freedom campers in time for the 2018-19 season.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in August advised that the council would receive $660,000 from the Responsible Camping Fund for a range of freedom camping projects including $300,000 for the KiwiCamp unit.
However, the funding was on the condition the council complete the projects by December 1.
In order to meet the deadline, councillors on Thursday agreed at an extraordinary full council meeting to instruct staff to further investigate and develop – if possible – a KiwiCamp facility in time to utilise the Government funding.
Decision making was delegated to councillors Paul Hawkes, Sue Brown and Anne Turley to push the project.
Strategic policy manager Sharon Flood told councillors there had been a few issues finding a site for the KiwiCamp ‘‘so we’re seeking [to] . . . appoint staff and three councillors to a working group to help determine where that site will be’’.
A staff report says that unless a location is found shortly, ‘‘we will have to forego the $300,000 of funding for this purpose’’.
The push comes after three preferred sites near Motueka, Wakefield and Lower Moutere were found to be unsuitable for the unit, which would have toilets, showers, Wi-Fi and charging ports that campers could pay to use via a pre-bought card.
Staff found the former landfill at Mariri, near Motueka, was unsuitable for several reasons including high operational costs associated with removing wastewater, iwi concerns and, ‘‘the KiwiCamp provider has indicated that they will not provide their facility at Mariri due to it not being financially sustainable’’.
The council was in the process of buying land at Wakefield as an extension to Wakefield Recreation Reserve but the purchase was not expected to be completed in time.
‘‘The issue facing council is that we do not yet own the site and are unlikely to in the near future so that the facility can be set up and running by 1 December,’’ the staff report says. ‘‘Due to past issues of freedom campers using the adjacent Edward Baigent [Memorial Scenic] Reserve, we anticipate there will also be some community opposition to using this site.’’
Camping was banned late last year at the Edward Baigent reserve.
The third preferred site for the KiwiCamp, near the Lower Moutere Memorial Hall, also seemed unlikely.
In the report, staff say the chairman of the hall management committee ‘‘has indicated that the committee would be opposed to siting the KiwiCamp facility on the paddock below the hall’’.
Councillors approved other projects worth $360,000, including $130,000 for the installation of a toilet block for a planned new freedom camping site at a parking area near the resource recovery centre off Fittal St in Richmond.