90-day Airbnb, Bookabach cap not welcomed by providers
Plans to limit short-term accommodation owners to only 90 days a year using websites such as Airbnb and Bookabach saw more than 100 people pack out a meeting in New Plymouth.
But those who squished into the Tasman Club on Monday night were told nothing had been set in stone, and the changes proposed by New Plymouth District Council were about having regulation.
More than 110 people, including private accommodation providers, attended the meeting after it was discovered that part of the council’s Proposed District Plan would affect residential visitors accommodation.
Jo Bourke, of Bach Break & Clean Break property management, organised the meeting to discuss the changes and inform people how to make a submission for or against the rule.
She also started a petition, which gained more than 1600 signatures in five days.
Alongside the 90-day cap, proposed changes to residential visitor accommodation rules include: a maximum of 10 guests a night, no more than 22 vehicle movements in 24 hours between visitors and residents and no more than eight vehicle movements an hour between visitors and residents. However, most at the meeting were only affected by the 90-day cap.
‘‘The 90-day cap will rob individual property owners of their rights, hurt our local economy and cost valuable jobs,’’ Bourke said.
Council district planning lead Juliet Johnson said, like most of the district plan, these changes were about trying to prepare for growth.
She said the 90-day cap came from other districts around New Zealand. But Johnson reminded everyone nothing was set in stone.
‘‘This is a proposal, a decision hasn’t been made.’’