New tools to manage freedom campers

Extra rangers and new cameras will be deployed in Marlborough this summer to help deal with freedom campers.

As councils around the country clamp down on freedom camping the Marlborough District Council has decided to take a strategic approach to regulation, focusing on educating rather than fining campers.

Earlier this year the Marlborough District Council received $183,610 in government funding for extra rangers to help staff manage the influx of freedom campers during the busy season.

This comes after several reviews of the council’s freedom camping control bylaw, which is to be reviewed for the fourth time, in 13 years.

Between 2016 and 2018 statistics show freedom camping visitors to Marlborough’s 13 sites increased from 7000 to 12,000.

Council reserves and amenities manager Jane Tito said on top of the funding for extra rangers, the council also received $25,000 from the Government’s tourism infrastructure fund for a feasibility study. This study would help come up with a longterm, sustainable approach to managing ‘‘responsible camping’’, or freedom camping sites, in Marlborough.

‘‘This study, which is also funded by council, will help to inform the bylaw review . . . It will look at how monitoring is carried out and the impact of responsible camping on other providers.

‘‘As part of this study council will review our existing campsites to determine whether we have the right number and type, and whether they are in the right locations.

‘‘We will be working closely with neighbouring councils in Nelson and Tasman to ensure we have a robust and planned approach that encompasses the whole of the top of the South,’’ Tito said.

The study will also include consultation with iwi, the camping and motorhome associations and other interested groups.

The council had engaged Paul Mcarthur, a specialist in parks, recreation and conservation to undertake the study over a sixmonth period.

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment has also funded cameras at Marlborough freedom camping sites.

They would go at Double Bay, Ohingaroa or Collins Reserve. The cameras would count vehicles at the site and send the data to the Campermate app.

A similar trial from 2018 in Kaiko¯ ura saw a 90 per cent success rate with directing visitors to other sites, when sites were shown as full, a council assets and services report said.

In Anakiwa, resident Darrell Thrupp said he was supportive of freedom camping, but thought the space allocated for campers needed to be closer to the toilets.

Thrupp’s neighbour, Doug Boniface agreed, saying the space allocated for freedom camping in Anakiwa was not ideal, because it was close to a road and a turning point for trailers with boats.

‘‘I understand wanting to wake up with a view like that, but it’s a bit of a safety risk,’’ he said.