Public submissions sought on Tasman's freedom camping strategy

Sunday, 13 October 2019

Tasman District Council has drafted a Responsible Camping Strategy to manage freedom camping within its boundaries.

As the 2019-20 freedom camping season approaches, the Tasman District Council is consulting the public on a strategy it has drafted to manage the increasingly popular activity.

Called the Responsible Camping Strategy, the draft document is scheduled to be released on Monday with submissions due to close on November 18.

The draft strategy says that in recent years, the level of overnight vehicle-based camping has 'increased dramatically'.

'Motueka and Golden Bay, in particular, have attracted large numbers … who wish to stay overnight for free,' it says.

Travellers love it but locals aren't quite so enamoured by the freedom camping site at Waitapu Bridge in Golden Bay. This video was first published in January 2019.

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Councillor Kit Maling says freedom campers are a problem for some commercial operators.

There has been an adverse reaction from some members of the community resulting from 'perceptions or actual experiences' with a range of issues including littering, late night noise, safety concerns, human waste left on site and competition with commercial camp grounds.

'As with many other councils around New Zealand, significant time and resources have been invested over the past few years to respond to managing freedom camping in the district,' the strategy says.

However, the effects to date have tended to be reactive to 'the immediate pressures'. The purpose of the Responsible Camping Strategy is to clearly identify the council's approach to managing the activity.

The development of the strategy was led by an external consultant, Paul McArthur, and took into consideration the views of a range of stakeholders.

Freedom campers relax in March at the Alexander Bluff Road Reserve site, near Motueka, which has a toilet block and rubbish bins.

In addition, the council had worked in partnership with Te Tau Ihu iwi to develop the draft strategy.

At its final meeting on Thursday, the outgoing council approved the draft strategy for consultation. It is anticipated a hearing will be held in early December with the final strategy adopted in February. That means the rules governing the activity, the Freedom Camping Bylaw, could be reviewed ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Councillor Kit Maling said he believed the strategy was the 'easy bit'.

'The bylaw is going to be harder and that's for the future council,' Maling said. 'We've got what I term to be freeloaders in some places and that is a problem for some of our commercial operators. It will be a balancing act and we won't be able to please everyone.'

Council senior policy adviser Alan Bywater agreed it would be a balancing act.

Freedom campers Kalle, left, Noelle, Julius, and Lucy, in December at the Waitapu Bridge camp near Takaka in Golden Bay.

'I'm pretty sure that we will get some robust responses from people in the commercial sector to the strategy,' Bywater said. 'Yes, the bylaw will also be tough and obviously the issues really coalesce and come into focus when you start looking at individual sites.'

The staff report lists areas for further discussion between iwi and the council including 'the way in which manaakitanga (unqualified acts of giving including the customary practice of koha) will be expressed'.

Councillor Peter Canton questioned what was envisaged in terms of koha.

Bywater said he believed iwi were talking about being good hosts and guests.

'They're not talking about a koha per se but they are interested in talking to us about the possibility of offering freedom campers the opportunity to give something back,' he said. 'That might be in the form of planting a tree or paying for a tree.'

The exact detail had not been determined 'but that's the general flavour of the conversation we've had'.

'They're definitely not seeing it as a compulsory must do,' Bywater said.