It’s about respect for this country

Remember these words of wisdom for those venturing into areas of unspoilt natural beauty: ‘‘Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs, kill nothing but time’’? Given the popularity of fishing and hunting here, perhaps the third part could be dropped in favour of ‘‘stir nothing but tea or coffee’’, because many freedom campers are stirring plenty that doesn’t fall under the definition of a hot beverage: indignation, anger, disgust, and, in the most extreme cases, a degree of xenophobia.

Pictures of the West Coast settlement of Kakapotahi, taken by Stuff photographer John Bisset, and published last weekend, show a spot of breath-taking beauty. The Tasman Sea is a picturesque backdrop to the recently opened freedom camping site, accessed via a wooden bridge across the aptly named Squatters Creek, with space for tourists to park vehicles, two permanent toilets and disposal bins.

So far so picture perfect for the average tourist who wants to go off the beaten track. But the site, set up by Westland District Council with money from the Government’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund (TIF), has space for only 15 vehicles. However, as locals quickly discovered, up to 50 campervans were arriving each night, and some were driving beyond the camping site and on to the nearby beach.

In some ways, this is New Zealand’s freedom camping problem in microcosm. Too many vehicles, inadequate facilities, irate locals, who, in this case, have spent the last week restricting access to the site once it reaches maximum capacity, and a level of bad feeling that in many places is making things unpleasant for locals and tourists alike. It’s a scenario reproduced in many locations, with tourists literally fouling the landscape making this an emotive issue. At the weekend, it emerged a tourist had been fined $400 for using a rocky area at a beach as a toilet.

It seems reasonable to assume it happens near Kakapotahi, given the number of vehicles turned away, so how can the situation be improved, remembering this is one location that has already had an injection from the $8.5 million TIF? And remembering too that Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis says the country is a long way from being at risk of ‘‘over-tourism’’.

A few obvious solutions stand out: building infrastructure in areas frequented by freedom campers, ensuring camping vehicles hired to tourists are genuinely self-contained – meeting the ‘‘ablutionary and sanitary needs of occupants’’ for at least three days without requiring external services – and restricting access to areas without toilet facilities to self-contained vehicles. Stuff recently reported that many vehicles carrying ‘‘self-contained’’ stickers were not, so robust checks of these vehicles are also necessary, along with monitoring of sites used by freedom campers. Westland council has employed two staff to enforce freedom camping compliance, but their brief covers a wide geographical area, which suggests they will miss many more breaches than they catch.

Ultimately, the situation will only improve with better respect for our many desirable locations, remote or popular. We need to find a way of making clear to tourists on arrival what is and isn’t appropriate, and the real consequences that noncompliance will bring if they are caught.

To make that point as strongly as we need to, we must ensure that, as Kiwis, we have the same respect for our country. Perhaps the feisty residents of Kakapotahi have shown us the way.

We need to ensure that as Kiwis we have the same respect for our country.