Front lawn the latest frontier of tourism
The founder of a new website selling tent sites on private lawns would like to see the Camping Ground Regulations relaxed.
Ben de Rijk recently launched the Camp on Our Lawn website, and his call for change is supported by another peer-topeer platform hooking up travellers with private property owners willing to host campervans and tents.
Under current rules such properties are limited to one paying camping party at a time, and those wanting to take more have to meet campground standards for ablution facilities and fire safety.
De Rijk said new technology had allowed for services such as Airbnb and Uber, and it was time the 1985 Camping Ground Regulations were revamped.
So far he has eight hosts listed on his site, ranging from rural properties to an urban Pukekohe home, and they set their own tariffs which were as low as $12 a night for a single adult.
De Rijk said he believed larger properties capable of accommodating a number of tents should be permitted to do so, provided they did not upset the neighbours, as it would help overcome issues with freedom camping.
‘‘If we made it legal, and the hosts were willing to take responsibility for cleaning up and keeping the site maintained, then it’s problem sorted.
‘‘As long as the tent fits on the site and campers don’t make too much noise and abide by the site rules.’’
Kazel Cass is listed on Camp On My Lawn and charges $20 a night for two adults to stay in a secluded glade on her Lower Kaimai organic lifestyle block.
‘‘You can pretend you’re the only person on the planet.’’
Although she has not yet had any bookings, she is keen to extend the number of sites and install a composting toilet, so guests do not have to use ablution facilities in the house.
The Campable app launched in 2017 initially catered for motorhomes, but general manager Maria Mahony said they extended the service to tents as well last summer in response to demand.
Now about 20 per cent of their 300 hosts offer tent sites, and she agrees that it’s time the regulations were overhauled so private property owners with sufficient space were not limited to one paid group.
Holiday Parks Association chief executive Fergus Brown said his organisation was already working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on a review of the regulations.
It was complicated by the fact that health and safety regulations and the building code, which specified ablution facilities for camping grounds, also came into play.
Brown said they were not opposed to private property owners taking paying guests in tents, provided they met accepted standards.
‘‘If you’re going to have a lot of people camping on your lawn and they are going to use your toilet, that’s OK if you have one tent.
‘‘If you have two tents and they’re big six person ones, and you’ve got 12 people, is it OK to have one toilet for that?
‘‘That’s a question a council would be pretty interested in, or you’d end up with people doing stuff on the back fence.’’