Ambassadors to police campsites
Freedom camping ambassadors are to be trialled at some Tasman District hotspots this summer.
Tasman District Council community partnership officer Yulia Panfylova said the ambassadors would work in pairs from November 30 to March 1 at freedom camping sites in Golden Bay, Motueka and Richmond. They would provide information to campers about the rules, including where they were allowed to camp.
Panfylova said the goal was to minimise any ‘‘negative impact’’ from freedom camping, which has caused concern in pockets of the district in recent years.
‘‘[The ambassadors] will try to build a relationship between campers and the local communities. It’s a good opportunity for [campers] to be involved in the local life.’’
People would be recruited and trained for the paid positions, she said. The trial was expected to involve 42 visits.
News of the trial comes as the council seeks submissions on a draft Responsible Camping Strategy and its contractor, Control Services, starts its freedom camping contract for the summer.
Control Services owner-operator John Griffiths said freedom campers were more noticeable ‘‘now the weather’s warmed up’’.
He said his team took a two-pronged approach – education and enforcement. Education was the focus of evening visits to freedom camping sites and other known spots where campers congregated.
Campers were informed of the rules, and those found to be in breach were given options, such as suggested legal camping sites and being asked to move on. Fines of $200 could also be issued.
‘‘A lot of it is determined by people’s attitudes,’’ Griffiths said. ‘‘If someone says, ‘No, I’m not moving’, the infringement book comes out.’’
However, most genuine visitors moved on once asked to, he said.
The evening education visits were followed by early-morning visits. ‘‘If they’re still there in the morning, they could get an infringement notice or a stern tellingoff.’’
Freedom camper numbers could be large at the height of the season. At times last summer, more than 100 vehicles were parked at the Waitapu Bridge site in Golden Bay, as well as 50 to 100 at Alexander Bluff, near Motueka.
Council community relations manager Chris Choat said 227 infringement notices were issued between November 1, 2018 and March 31 this year. Eighty-six were issued in Golden Bay, 10 in Mapua, 24 in Richmond and 107 in Motueka.
So far, 68 per cent of the 227 fines had been paid, ‘‘with more coming from courts every month’’, Choat said.
Griffiths said his team kept receiving the same excuses for breaches of the rules: ‘‘I didn’t come in until late, I didn’t see the signs, I didn’t know the rules.’’ However, he believed that at least 90 per cent of freedom campers used the CamperMate app, which included information on the sites in Tasman District.
As well as freedom campers, the team at Control Services encountered seasonal workers as well as some homeless people, he said.