$125k for freedom camping facilities
South Taranaki has been given government funding of $125,187 towards additional facilities for freedom campers and tourists hotspots – but they won’t be ready for another year.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Tourism Infrastructure Fund will help supply South Taranaki District Council with mobile ablution pods and rubbish bins, while the council will pay the other half of the funding.
Four fully-contained ablution pods and five solar-powered rubbish compaction bins, with fill sensors, will be put in place, STDC group manager of community services Fiona Greenhill said.
‘‘Each mobile ablution pod is basically a 20-foot container, which has two stainless steel toilets and wash basins, two showers, a 2000-litre wastewater tank, a fresh and grey water system and a separate sink unit for food preparation.’’
The pods can be moved to different locations, she said.
‘‘This provides flexibility and options of transferring the pods to other sites if demand changes.
‘‘If facility demand increases beyond the capability of the pods, then they could possibly be replaced by permanent toilets but the pod would still be available for use in another site,’’ Greenhill said.
The pods have not yet been built so they will not be ready for this season, but they are expected to be in place by the start of the following summer.
It was a co-funding arrangement, with council needing to budget for the other half of the cost of the new infrastructure, which was included as part of the Long Term Plan.
STDC currently has 36 public toilets across the district, which cost $457,000 per annum to operate and maintain.
New Plymouth District Council also received $156,000 of Government funding as part of an $8.5 million initiative to support freedom camping infrastructure.
The money will be used for a range of additional facilities at the Waiwhakaiho River mouth and also a relocatable unit with two toilets and a shower.
The MBIE funding also covers improvements for managing sewage, rubbish and signs at the Waiwhakaiho River mouth, including ‘Big Belly Bins’ that compress rubbish and send an alert when they need emptying.