Faked out of camping at region’s renowned surf spot
‘‘We certainly don’t encourage or condone people making up signs willy nilly. But the signs there, they’re serving a purpose.’’
Gerard Langford
Surfers are being accused of putting up two fake ‘‘no camping’’ signs to stop people staying at one of the country’s most renowned surf spots.
The signs, at South Taranaki’s Paora Rd, look to be official South Taranaki District Council (STDC) signs and have been up since December, when freedom camping was officially banned in the area after a slew of complaints about mess.
But Paora Rd resident Michelle Phillips said the signs were fake and were put up by local surfers to scare freedom campers away because they didn’t want to share their spot with anyone else.
From Paora Rd surfers have access to four renowned breaks; Bird’s Nest, Rocky Rights, Rocky Point and Graveyards.
Phillips, who has lived in the area for 13 years, said freedom campers were not the issue at the spot and it was the surfers who were the real problem.
‘‘We’ve never had any trouble with freedom campers,’’ Phillips said.
‘‘The only issues we have is with the surfers.’’
Local surfers thought they owned the place, she said, and she had dealt with more than a decade of them ‘‘flying’’ up the gravel road at excessive speeds and leaving mess in the car park.
‘‘The surfers are territorial,’’ Phillips said.
She said the finger was often pointed at freedom campers when there was toilet paper and faeces in the Paora Rd car park but it had been happening for longer than freedom campers had been going there.
‘‘That’s been going on for 10 years,’’ she said. ‘‘I sit here and shake my head in disbelief, absolute disbelief.’’
STDC spokesman Gerard Langford admitted the council did not create or put up the no camping signs.
This was despite the council banning freedom camping at Paora Rd in December due to complaints about human excrement, used toilet paper and rubbish fouling the beach.
However, Langford said the council had no plan to remove the fake signage anytime soon.
‘‘We certainly don’t encourage or condone people making up signs willy nilly,’’ Langford said. ‘‘But the signs there, they’re serving a purpose.’’
He said the council had decided to be realistic because the signs were practical and were doing the job until the council put its official signs up.
‘‘Until we get our signs up, we’ll leave them there.’’