Car parks ‘overrun’ by campers
Access to a popular Nelson park has become tricky because of the number of freedom campers using the car parks, say locals.
When Paul Willis visited Isel Park one morning last week, he found the car park, which is accessed from Main Rd, Stoke, “overrun” with self-contained vehicles.
“There is no space for locals using the park ... there were no parks at all, [it was] full of camping vans; way more than allowed,” Willis said.
Under Nelson’s Freedom Camping Bylaw, just three self-contained vehicles are permitted in the car park, in spaces indicated by blue lines. While not opposed to freedom camping, Willis said campers should stick to the designated areas. “The area needs to be policed by the [Nelson City] council to ensure our hospitality is not being abused.”
The council’s group manager, environmental management, Mandy Bishop said since November 1 last year, the council had received 26 complaints about freedom camping at Isel Park and visited the area eight times.
The majority of the complaints were about the number of vehicles present, and a small number referred to litter. Bishop said staff had not observed excess littering, fires or anti-social behaviour at the park.
She said the council did not receive governemnt funding for twice-daily freedom camping patrols this year as it had in the past, and had not been able to undertake proactive freedom camping patrols.
When a Stuff journalist visited the site on Monday night, there were four selfcontained vehicles parked up for the night: one more than permitted.
However, overcrowding was also reported in a Neighbourly post, where posters complained of a “big influx of campervans and people sleeping in smaller vehicles”.
“I have counted up to 30 vehicles on any morning,” the post wrote. “As a lot of these parks are used by park users and
nearby workers, it would seem that they are forced to park elsewhere.”
On the Campermate app, an online resource for campers, there were also reports of overcrowding.
“Campervans were parked all over so assuming there is no parking warden as it’s always free parking,” wrote one user in February.
“Many vans parking all around there, looks like no one cares,” wrote another.
Isel Park is the only designated freedom camping spot in Stoke. Campers in need of a place to park up for the night can head to central Nelson, where there are a few places that allow self-contained vehicles, including Montgomery and Buxton Squares.
The complaints come a few weeks after that of Jonathan Holland, who lives beside the Maitai Cricket ground car park.
Holland, who has endured antisocial behaviour from the freedom camping spot, has contacted the council several times to report breaches of the two-vehicle rule, photographing up to 10 vehicles parked overnight at the site this summer.