Pines Camp upgrades now complete

About $400,000 has been spent on improvements to the Pines Camp on the edge of Lake Pukaki, which have now been completed and were opened on Monday.

Visitors to the camp will now be able to enjoy the site’s newly upgraded facility and road improvements, Mackenzie District Council community facilities manager Garth Nixon said.

The Mackenzie District Council (MDC) received $642,000 to fund the improvements in June.

Nixon said the projected cost of about $400,000 was jointly funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Tourism Infrastructure Fund, the MDC, and Land Information New Zealand, which administers the land.

Up to $25 million per year is provided by the Government’s tourism infrastructure fund, for the development of tourism-related infrastructure in New Zealand. The infrastructure includes car parks, freedom camping facilities, sewerage and transport projects.

Of the $642,000 the council received from the fund, $275,000 was spent on toilets and other upgrades at the camping ground, $100,000 was spent on new toilets at the Lake Pukaki lookout, and $267,000 on toilets on Lakeside Dr, Lake Tekapo.

The significant works to upgrade the camp included four additional toilets, better-designed roads and specific parking areas, Nixon said.

The camp ground, on the Lake Pukaki foreshore, had been the focus of targeted efforts to regulate freedom camping.

Concerns had been raised about people defecating among the trees, leaving rubbish at the site, health and safety at the site, and fires being lit in a fire-ban zone.

Nixon said the upgrades aimed to limit damage to the local landscape.

‘‘Up until now visitors have been able to drive through the camp without keeping to existing tracks.

‘‘This has contributed to foreshore erosion and destroyed grass cover.’’

Fenced-in roads now direct visitors through the camp. Four pump-out, longdrop toilets have also been installed. LINZ funds the cleaning and daily servicing of these facilities, Nixon said.

Meanwhile, council is working through the detailed plans and communication strategy to enable them to commence work on the Church of the Good Shepherd project in Tekapo.

The council was granted $294,000 by the fund in December for the construction of a new car park and pedestrian access around the tourist landmark.

Physical works will include relocation of the car parking from the church to a new location east of the Godley Hotel.