Freedom camping for small fee with help of new app
A freedom camping app is asking users to make voluntary online donations to cover running costs for a popular Kaikoura campsite, and the trial could be extended to other areas.
CamperMate is inviting campers staying at the Meatworks site beside a well known surf break to donate $3 or $5 through the app to Kaikoura District Council, and they can choose to give more.
A message to app users said some councils had restricted freedom camping this summer because they could not sustain maintenance costs, and it listed four sites in Central Otago and Taranaki that had closed.
Donations were described as a way of getting councils to consider an alternative approach to the upkeep of freedom campsites ‘‘and prove there is an alternative to further closures.’’
CamperMate has 50,000 users a day and is owned by Tourism Holdings Ltd, the country’s largest campervan rental company.
App founder Adam Hutchinson said if the Kaikoura trial was successful, the donations scheme could be extended to other councils and sites.
‘‘The freedom camping model at the moment is fairly broken in some areas, especially those with low ratepayer bases. The aim is to test a new model whereby we can build a culture of koha or donation if the visitor had a good stay.’’
Hutchinson said feedback from hirers returning their campervans after touring the country indicated they were willing to pay if good facilities were provided.
Kaikoura mayor Winston Gray said the council would gratefully accept donations because it was expensive cleaning and removing waste from the toilet serving the camping area at Hapuku where some residents have complained about mess from freedom campers.
But Gray said it was a challenging issue because local surfers also camped at the beach, and had done so for decades.
‘‘We’re working with the locals who are affected and those who surf there to see if we can get a local resolution which may mean some ‘pay as you go’.’’
One possibility was that a local trust could run a pay camping area on the road reserve, but he said he was also keen to see a change to the law on freedom camping.
Gray will be among the 30 mayors and deputies meeting with Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis on Thursday to thrash out solutions for freedom camping problems.
The minister’s office said they would also discuss what councils could do with government support to prepare for next summer, and also longer term options.