Far fewer freedom camping infringements this summer

CLOSED borders, stricter rules and ‘‘responsible camping’’ initiatives have led to a massive drop in the number of freedom camping fines issued in the Queenstown Lakes district.

The most recent numbers available, for December, show 66 fines were issued for freedom camping infringements — 42 in the Wakatipu and 24 in the WanakaUpper Clutha area.

That is 90% fewer than during the same month a year earlier, when 629 fines were issued.

If the trend continues, the fines for this summer will be dramatically down on last summer’s, when 1285 fines were issued and 57 complaints about freedom campers received by the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

During the 201819 summer, more than 1300 fines were issued, 34 vehicles clamped, and 80 complaints received.

Council community services general manager Thunes Cloete said the drop in infringements reflected a similar fall, anecdotally, in freedom camping vehicles coming into the district.

‘‘I’m not happy that our tourist numbers are down, but to have less infringements is a good thing,’’ Dr Cloete said.

‘‘It would be great if it can keep on like that when we get higher numbers again.’’

While the closed borders made comparison with the previous two summers difficult, he was confident compliance would have improved anyway.

The council, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Department of Conservation and others had ‘‘stepped up’’ on the issue.

The council rolled out the first measures of its ‘‘responsible camping’’ strategy in late 2018.

It was a response to public outcry about a surge in visitors in the 201718 summer that led to the overcrowding of camping spots, and people bathing and washing dishes and clothes in lakes and rivers.

The measures included service hubs in Queenstown and Wanaka, councilmanaged campsites in Luggate and Kingston, ‘‘ambassadors’’ to educate freedom campers, and use of a camping app, CamperMate, to direct travellers to legal camping sites.

The council followed up the strategy in 2019 with a stricter bylaw that bans freedom camping in town centres, residential areas and along key stretches of road.

Dr Cloete said staff had been considering introducing charges this summer for some facilities.

‘‘It could’ve helped us do some market research — what are these guys willing to pay for a basic facility?’’

However, the idea was dropped when the impact of Covid19 became clear, and the council had instead focused on ‘‘pushing’’ freedom campers to commercial campgrounds.

It was not operating service hubs this summer, and was employing fewer ambassadors