Police evict river site campers
Police have moved on freedom campers protesting their right to stay at a popular Golden Bay riverside site.
A group of campers has been occupying the freedom camping site at Waitapu Bridge near Takaka for weeks, despite being asked to leave and issued with infringement notices by a Tasman District Council enforcement officer.
Police confirmed that a group of freedom campers was moved from the site on Tuesday.
Freedom Campaign protester Heather Simpson said when that police arrived, some campers received trespass notices, and those who weren’t present had their campsites ‘‘torn down and thrown in a big messy pile’’.
Simpson had set up a temporary camp on the Village Green in Takaka, but said ‘‘summer has ended early in Takaka this year’’ and she was leaving for Motueka.
‘‘If we all end up leaving the Bay, perhaps then the tourism operators and shops will realise how much money we did actually bring to the area.’’
She said she would continue ‘‘moving with the winds of change’’, but was open to returning to Golden Bay to talk more about the issue and work on solutions.
‘‘I am not the only person fighting this campaign, I have just been a voice for a community who usually keep to ourselves and avoid conversations with those who judge us and hate us.’’
Simpson is part of a larger group she calls a ‘‘travelling community’’ of like-minded people
who moved around the top of the South Island.
The Freedom Campaign has been protesting for the ‘‘basic human right’’ to have a place to stay. Many members don’t have permanent homes, and some have little money for fuel and accommodation.
Simpson said homelessness was ‘‘not a lifestyle choice’’.
‘‘I am living in the ways of my ancestors, who have travelled the world for a thousand years and everywhere been moved on, harassed, judged, enslaved and murdered in tragic numbers. I do not just call myself a Gypsy, I am one.’’ She said that while she identified strongly with her Romani Gypsy heritage, others in the group did not.
She said she ‘‘stands for the rights also of all travellers’’ who choose to live a simple life close to nature and community, and for those who did not choose to but had homelessness ‘‘thrust upon them’’.
Simpson left her Waitapu Bridge campsite earlier this week after learning that the site was sacred to local iwi, who are opposed to turning it into a designated freedom camping site.
In a submission on the Tasman District Council draft Responsible Camping Strategy, Nga¯ti Tama ki te Waipounamu Trust said the site was a wa¯hi tapu (sacred site) and sensitive cultural area for Nga¯ ti Tama.
Golden Bay Community Board member Grant Knowles wants the freedom camping bylaw amended to remove the Waitapu site. He said he would table a motion calling for the ban at next Tuesday’s board meeting, along with a letter from iwi in support. ‘‘We need somewhere else to put [freedom campers].’’
Knowles said he wasn’t aware of any other available council land that would be suitable for a campsite.
‘We need somewhere else to put [freedom campers].’’
Grant Knowles,
Golden Bay Community Board