Caravanners fear regional bylaw the ‘end of freedom camping as we know it’ – Stuff.co.nz

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF

New Zealand Motor Caravan Association Marlborough chairman Ian Simmons at Blenheims Wynen St freedom camping site.

The Marlborough District Council has found itself on the wrong side of caravanners with its disproportionate and unreasonable clampdown on freedom camping.

The New Zealand Motor Caravan Association believes the councils new freedom camping bylaw, put down in December, could spell the end of freedom camping as we know it.

The association would vote at a public-excluded board meeting on Thursday on whether the group should ask the High Court to review the bylaw.

The bylaw put an end to freedom camping at all but five council sites and ruled vehicles at the remaining sites must be self-contained, which the association dubbed a dangerous precedent.

READ MORE:* Hundreds stop at newly closed freedom campsites over summer* Smoke alarm advice for freedom campers after van explodes suddenly* Kiwi-laden campsites forced to hang 'no vacancy' signs in Marlborough

Association chief executive Bruce Lochore said the council's disproportionate and unreasonable freedom camping bylaw punished tens of thousands of responsible Kiwi families.

He said the council failed to consult the public on its second drafting of the bylaw, released three days before it was adopted.

We have lost faith in the councils ability to follow due process and make lawful decisions ... We now have a bylaw that undermines national legislation designed to protect a Kiwi tradition, he said.

A council spokesman said it was inappropriate for the council to comment as it involved the potential for legal action.

Robert Steven/Stuff

New Zealand Motor Caravan Association property and policy national manager James Imlach says the councils new freedom camping bylaw is prohibitive.

Association property and policy national manager James Imlach said the association had long taken issue with the region's bylaws. It had flip-flopped four times between banning camping in all but some camp sites and allowing campers everywhere except certain sites.

However, the new 2020 bylaw is far more prohibitive towards [certified self-contained] vehicles than any previous edition. It explicitly prohibits freedom camping unless allowed in designated areas which departs from Parliaments expectations and Local Government New Zealand advice to its own membership, he said.

Marlborough's bylaw establishes a dangerous precedent that could spark the end of freedom camping as we know it. Challenging the bylaw sends another clear message and warning to local and central government that the only watchdog with the resources and commitment to hold councils to account will not back down.

The association was one of 350 to submit on the bylaw last year, concerned it would effectively ban freedom camping in the district.

SUPPLIED

In red, the Marlborough District Council-owned freedom camping sites that closed last year after a new freedom camping bylaw was approved.

The association challenged the Thames-Coromandel District Council freedom camping bylaw in 2014 because we felt that it went too far, Imlach warned the freedom camping bylaws hearing panel last year.

What were seeing in Marlborough is creating similar concerns, he said at the time.

Thames-Coromandels bylaw was found to be illegal, and had to be rewritten.

Imlach said the association had tried to take responsibility by setting up a camp site for members that visited Marlborough, but had missed out on more than a dozen properties in the last decade.

It had asked to lease council-owned land many times, he said.

CHLOE RANFORD/LDR

Marlborough District Council rangers say several information signs warning campers of the regions new rules have been stolen.

There's just been zero appetite from the council to work with [the association] to find a solution that's outside the box, Imlach said.

The council later agreed to work with the association.

But the groups Marlborough chairman, Ian Simmons, said both members and travellers felt they had been prohibited from sites some of which had been open for decades without a real reason.

There were 3000 members living in Marlborough.

The feedback we've had ... is there's just a lack of spaces available for people to camp on at the Marlborough District Council sites, let alone the number of sites. We used to have 13, now we have five.

MARION VAN DIJK/Stuff

Only self-contained vehicles are allowed at Marlborough District Council camp sites.

Council parks and open spaces planner Linda Craighead told residents during consultation on the bylaw last year that the council expected to be challenged on its non-self-contained vehicle ban.

As with a lot of legal matters, there are some lawyers who feel we can ban non-self-contained units, and some lawyers who think we can't. We're going to have a go and see how we do, Craighead said.

Changes to the bylaw were promised following a wave of submissions against freedom camping in the last two annual plans.

Council rangers have reported considerable surprise from several freedom campers over the changes, particularly so for those who had planned to use the camping sites over the [summer] holidays.

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Caravanners fear regional bylaw the 'end of freedom camping as we know it' - Stuff.co.nz