Evans Bay residents oppose council plan to increase freedom camping sites

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

Neighbours complain that they regularly see freedom campers getting dressed in public, doing their laundry and cleaning their teeth.

Residents of Wellington's Evans Bay say they feel like intruders on someone else's backyard as freedom campers make themselves at home.

The freedom camping site at Evans Bay Marina currently provides 46 parking spaces, and Wellington City Council plans to add a further 30.

Evans Bay resident Mike Woods says neighbours are not happy about Wellington City Council plans to expand freedom camping at the marina car park.

Neighbours say that, instead of a space where they could walk their dogs, they are now confronted by campers getting dressed in public, doing their laundry and cleaning their teeth.

'People used to come out here and have a glass of wine, and now they're not able to,' marina tenant Paul Yardley said on Tuesday.

Freedom campers were doing their washing-up and throwing waste water on the ground at Evans Bay Marina on Tuesday.

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Like others neighbours, he said he had not been notified by the council of its plans to expand the camping site.

Sarah Boddy, an Evans Bay resident for 14 years, said the community felt it had 'lost their space'.

'I am concerned there's been little to no communication with the people that it's most going to impact.'

Residents wanted to see people learning to drive, walking their dogs and using the walkway. Instead, they saw campers brushing their teeth and doing their laundry in a residential area, she said.

Mike Woods said the council sent a letter to 70 residents, which claimed people had been consulted. However, those people were groups and marina users, not residents, he said.

He suggested council-owned land in Mt Victoria, Shelly Bay or the Mt Crawford prison site might be more suitable. 'Let's put them somewhere where they're not going to affect residents.'

He said his father would no longer go to Evans Bay to walk his dog, because he did not find it a safe place to park any more.

'Residents feel like they're invading someone else's back yard.'

Council spokesman Richard MacLean said its research had shown freedom campers liked to stay close to the central city, and there was a lack of available space since the loss of the waterfront motorhome park near Wellington Railway Station.

The council had received no complaints about the behaviour of campers from Evans Bay residents.

'If we don't include a safe space for freedom campers, then they are likely to camp at other more popular sites, displacing locals from their favourite beaches and reserves.'

The council had offered only the southern end of Evans Bay for freedom camping since 2013.

'We have looked at numerous places across the city, and none equal Evans Bay as a welcoming and central, safe site.'

The council conducted pre-engagement with residents, and would start public consultation later this month, he said.

Landscaping, including a screen around the site, and some toilets and showers for campers was included in the plan.

Campers can stay for a maximum of four nights in any single month, and overstayers can be fined.

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