New freedom camping bylaw “doesn’t intend intend to make camping illegal”
TDC environmental health co-ordinator Graeme Caradus says that the Draft Freedom Camping Bylaw that was recently passed by council’s Environment and Planning committee is “designed to provide freedom campers with some incentive to comply.”
“Council certainly doesn’t intend to make camping illegal or anything like that. The intent is to give council some control over those areas that people do complain about.”
The bylaw was passed by councillors at an environment and planning committee meeting last month and will be considered at the next full council meeting . It is due to be reviewed in a year. It allows only campers with self-contained toilet facilities to stay on council-controlled public land, defined Department of Conservation land and areas not listed as banned camping sites.
Cr Martine Bouillir voted against the bylaw. In one of her regular email updates she explained her position.
“I found the 122 submissions from both camps well thought through and helpful. Both sides are advocating greater education - something we have done nothing much about to this point - and they contain some wonderful suggestions
“Since then the [environment and planning] meeting has happened. I was opposed to the bylaw because I abhor excessive regulation and expensive compliance. While I acknowledge there are times when some friendly, firm control seems prudent, I believe that behaviour is best changed through educating and creating a culture that just makes it easy to do the right thing. Education, common-sense, some local monitoring and trial areas - hand in hand with council, community groups, DOC, community board, socially responsible businesses and organisations could play a part in such a project. I have since spoken to two people who might be willing to trial something on their private land.”
Mr Caradus explains that the bylaw was deemed necessary because the existing council policy had no enforcement measures.
“Take the most recent complaint we received. It was about somebody camping on the reserve at Ligar Bay near the no camping sign. Without the bylaw, council staff could only use the cumbersome Trespass Act to move people on. It’s hard to get them to do the right thing.”
The bylaw only puts in black and white the intention of the existing policy, Mr Caradus explains.
“I heart that people are saying that council is going to have its enforcement officers crawling through the undergrowth trying to find people who are not complying with the bylaw. That’s not the case. The bylaw just provides staff some tools to work with in trouble spots throughout the district.”
Council funded a contract for an enforcement officer last summer. Sally Quickfall was contracted by Control Services, a company that itself contracts to council for various services. The Golden Bay Community Board described her work as very effective and thanked council for funding this deliberate enforcement of policy in such a highly visible way. Mrs Quickfall was based in holiday accommodation here in the Bay, so there was no travel time involved in her work.
Asked whether similar measures were likely in the future, Mr Caradus says he suspects there will be.
“We haven’t gone down that path at this stage. The environmental health group is not anticipating putting any more efforts into policing but if people know that there are actually enforceable penalties maybe that will be a bit of a deterrent. Council tends to be complaint-driven. Environmental health has a whole lot of routine stuff on our plates, so we aren’t out there looking for non-compliance. But if we find there are ongoing problems, we have to throw some resource at it.”
Responding to calls for council to conduct education programmes for visitors who may want to freedom camp, Mr Caradus said: “There’s a huge amount of common sense that goes with this stuff. Education shouldn’t be necessary. Defecating in the bushes on the side of the road isn’t OK in any culture. People who do that kind of thing and endanger public health and so on aren’t lacking education – they’re lacking something else.”
Council would be putting some effort into providing clear explanatory signage, especially on council reserves, said Mr Caradus.
Informing the travelling public would also occur via council’s website and other websites too.
“Other agencies are interested in this information. We’ve had enquiries from a company that’s setting up a website for freedom campers, showing where you can do it.”
Mr Caradus pointed to one aspect of the bylaw that would make it easier for council staff and contractors to ensure campers complied.
“Self-contained vehicles must comply with New Zealand Standard 5465 and they must display something that shows they comply. It’s as easy as checking a registration.”
In case people believe that council has made traditional summer holidays under canvas illegal, Mr Caradus offers some consolation.
“People who are camping in their traditional sorts of spots are probably not going to be on council- controlled land anyway, so they aren’t going to come into it.”
Neil Wilson
