Freedom camping ambassadors to target Tasman hotspots over summer

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

Freedom camping ambassadors are to be trialled at some Tasman District hotspots this summer.

Tasman District Council community partnership officer Yulia Panfylova said the ambassadors were due to work in pairs from November 30 to March 1 at freedom camping sites in Golden Bay, Motueka and Richmond. They would provide information to campers about the rules, as well as outlining where people were able to camp.

The goal of the trial was to minimise any 'negative impact' from freedom camping, which has caused concern in pockets of the district over the past few years.

'They [ambassadors] will try to build a relationship between campers and the local communities,' Panfylova said. 'It's a good opportunity for [freedom campers] to be involved in the local life.'

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A team of people would be recruited and trained for the paid positions. The trial was expected to involve 42 visits over the summer period.

News of the ambassador trial comes as the council seeks submissions on a draft Responsible Camping Strategy and its contractor, Control Services, starts its freedom camping contract for the summer.

Control Services owner-operator John Griffiths said freedom campers were more noticeable 'now the weather's warmed up'.

The Control Services team took a two-pronged approach to freedom camping – education and enforcement. Education was the focus of evening visits to freedom camping sites and other known spots where campers congregated.

People were informed of the rules. Those campers found to be in breach of the regulations were given options such as suggestions of where they could camp and asked to move on.

Infringement fines of $200 could be issued.

'A lot of it is determined by people's attitudes,' Griffiths said. 'Even in the evening education run, if someone says: 'No, I'm not moving', the infringement book comes out.'

However, most genuine visitors moved on once asked.

Those evening education visits were followed by early morning trips back to the sites.

'If they're still there in the morning, they could get an infringement notice or a stern telling off,' Griffiths said.

The numbers could be large at the height of the season. At times last summer, more than 100 vehicles were parked at the Waitapu Bridge site in Golden Bay as well as 50-100 at Alexander Bluff, near Motueka.

Council community relations manager Chris Choat said 227 infringement notices were issued between November 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019. Of that total, 86 were issued in Golden Bay, 10 at Mapua, 24 in Richmond and 107 at Motueka.

'They've already given three out this [season],' Choat said.

So far, 68 per cent of the 227 fines issued last season had been paid 'with more coming from courts every month'.

Griffiths said his team kept receiving the same excuses for breaches of the rules: 'I didn't come in until late, I didn't see the signs, I didn't know the rules.'

However, Griffiths said he believed 90 per cent of freedom campers 'if not higher' used the CamperMate app, which included information on the sites in Tasman District.

As well as freedom campers, the team at Control Services encountered seasonal workers as well as some people who were genuinely homeless.