Banning campers illadvised

GERALDINE Tait (ODT, 20.7.17) makes a good case for a welcoming approach to freedom campers. Unfortunately, her generosity of spirit is unlikely to be shared by those who are convinced that we must rid the city of these visitors, or at least force them into much costlier commercial camping grounds. So, let me instead appeal to the opponents’ pragmatic side.

Prohibition won’t work. It’s no different from banning alcohol. A ban removes the ability to manage effects. The campers who crowded the Warrington and Ocean View sites

(and, previously, the Macandrew Bay site) didn’t suddenly decide to visit Dunedin because we had official campsites — they simply emerged from the bushes, sand dunes and paddocks where they had been surreptitiously doing their business. Out of sight, out of mind isn’t a management tool. It is passing the problem to someone else — and if there are no facilities, the problem is worse.

The suggestion that, with no freedom camping sites, these people will simply start using commercial camping grounds lacks evidence. Did commercial camping grounds see a downturn in business when the freedom camping sites became available? I doubt it. They are catering for a different market, in the same way that building a new fast food joint is unlikely to affect a finedining establishment.

Sure, the current situation with freedom campers needs some finetuning, but driving the practice underground is not a solution — it’s a recipe for bigger problems.

David Barnes

Lower Hutt

BIBLE READING: Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? — Job 38.4. Correspondents writing for consideration for the ‘‘Election mailbag’’ section are asked, for context, to declare any political affiliations, which will be included at the bottom of their letters. — Editor