Camping questions
What do election promises hold?
National’s proposal for tougher camping rules have met a mixed response, and motorhome rental companies are worried it will force them to become de facto debt collectors.
The 73,000-member New Zealand Motor Caravan Association supports the crackdown on vehicles lacking proper toilets.
But the policy could also have unintended consequences for some Kiwi freedom campers, and there is a call for New Zealand to copy Iceland’s ‘‘responsible tourist’’ pledge instead of focusing on punishing offenders.
Local authorities have complained about tourists skipping the country without paying fines for illegal camping, and Local Government Minister Anne Tolley intends changing legislation so unpaid fines become the responsibility of vehicle owners, including rental companies.
‘‘Then they will have a clear incentive to collect it from the hirer, either through taking a deposit or charging their credit card,’’ she said.
Last year, major campervan rental companies THL Holdings and Jucy, began voluntarily helping two councils to recoup unpaid freedom camping fines.
THL chief executive Grant Webster, said they had processed just under 100 fines for Queenstown Lakes District Council over the past 12 months.
But the process was very labour intensive and difficult to scale up to include other local authorities, unless new technology became available to streamline it.
There were also issues charging disputed fines to hirers’ credit cards, so the company could be left facing large debt recovery and administration bills.
Webster questioned whether the reassignment would apply to speeding and parking fines incurred by rental clients, but Tolley said that was not the case.
‘‘Freedom camping fines are a unique issue because councils struggle to collect them before tourists leave the country. At the moment, only 40 to 60 per cent are actually paid.’’
National also intends creating a new smartphone app showing where people can and cannot camp, even though several apps already provide this information, including THL-owned CamperMate which has racked up 500,000 downloads.
Webster said building and maintaining an app showing camping locations costs millions, and it would be a waste of money for the government to ‘‘go off on its own track’’ rather than working with existing providers.
Local Government New Zealand chief executive Malcolm Alexander, said it was unclear whether the changes would encourage compliance by ‘‘van packers’’ who freedom camped illegally using unselfcontained cars and wagons bought to travel the country.
‘‘The person who has just
The person who has just bought an old dunger will just park it at the airport and go. LGNZ chief executive Malcolm Alexander
bought an old dunger will just park it at the airport and go.’’
Alexander welcomed National’s moves to restrict non-selfcontained vehicles to staying within about 200 metres of toilets, and allowing Land Information New Zealand and the New Zealand Transport Authority to ban freedom camping on Crownowned land they control.
But those measures could have unintended consequences for some domestic freedom campers, according to tourism research consultant Iain Shaw.
He said the surfing community had a long tradition of freedom camping near beaches so they could get out on the water early the next day, and the 200m rule could have a significant impact on them.
‘‘People may oppose non selfcontained freedom camping by young international backpackers, but still want their friends and family to be able to park up at a remote beach for a couple of nights.’’
Shaw said new rules would require more enforcement.
Lack of money for this could see illegal freedom camping ‘‘migrate’’ to areas where there was less policing and he suggested educating visitors might be more beneficial.
Webster agreed and he is keen to see New Zealand adopt Iceland’s responsible tourist pledge, which fitted perfectly with the 100 per cent Pure tagline and would get more traction than slapping on fines.
The seven-part pledge includes undertakings such as, ‘‘when I explore new places I will leave them as I found them,’’ and ‘‘when nature calls, I won’t answer the call on nature.’’