Freedom camping hassles at ‘crisis point’
Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis doesn’t want to ‘‘kill the golden goose’’ as local authorities struggle with the rapid rise in the number of freedom camping tourists.
The minister chaired a meeting with 32 local government leaders in Wellington on Thursday, to find solutions to problems created by some campers.
The group agreed to establish a working party within the next month to tackle the issues, ahead of a Local Government NZ symposium in April.
The LGNZ president, Dunedin areas. ‘‘It’s clear in areas like Queenstown Lakes, Mackenzie, Rotorua – places where there’s obviously a lot of tourists – the sheer volume of so-called freedom camping is just putting a strain on the environment and on the financial resources of ratepayers.’’
The Freedom Camping Act of 2011 was enacted to cater for the tourists drawn by the Rugby World Cup that year, allowing people to camp freely in any local authority area.
However, some councils have been forced to introduce bylaws to prevent some popular tourist areas from being overrun by campers sleeping in cars and vans.
‘‘Just issuing penalties isn’t an answer,’’ said Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick.
‘‘It’s not freedom camping any more. It costs local communities.’’
‘‘One of the overarching messages which came out of this [meeting] was the need for consistency in some areas,’’ Cull said.
‘‘There still needs to be a recognition that local communities need to have control, for instance, about where they will allow people to camp responsibly and where they won’t.’’ Among the problems was litter, noise, the use of water fountains to bathe and clean clothes in, while some campers had resorted to relieving themselves in public places.
Questions have been raised about whether toilet facilities and rubbish bins should be provided, and whether more designated freedom camping areas are needed.
But whether the costs of that added infrastructure would be passed on to ratepayers, or central Government remained to be seen.
Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne said his district had a population of about 50,000 people, but over summer there were as many as 3000 visitors per night.
He said freedom camping near residential areas was a problem, as well as campers blocking access to rivers and lakes.