Council regulatory services manager Lichelle Guyan confirmed this week councillors revisited the Waitaki responsible freedom camping bylaw at a March 15 workshop to look at what improvements could be made to the system.
They also discussed how they might better pursue revenue from unpaid infringement notices.
Essentially, they wanted to look at the end of the season to see how they could, within the existing bylaw, also promote camping options for people whose camper vans were not self-contained, Mrs Guyan said on Monday.
Cr Melanie Tavendale, of Kakanui, who chaired the council freedom camping subcommittee, said the bylaw in its first year ''certainly took the pressure off our services and things locally'', but also that more work was needed to improve it.
Existing bylaw exemptions, for example, were ''a way that we can be a little bit more friendly to our locals''.
These included exemptions for non-self-contained vehicles where campers had their own chemical toilet, and extensions beyond the three-night maximum stay.
Mrs Guyan said only two applications were made for exemptions in the past year. Both were approved.
Cr Tavendale said councillors were also working hard on ''the facility side of things, trying to get a few of our facilities a bit more local and camper friendly''.
She said the council would seek external funding through the Government's tourism infrastructure fund for three possible council projects.
Mrs Guyan said council-approved bylaw exemptions to the freedom camping bylaw were possible this past year, but only two applications were made.
The council approved both exemptions: one for an exemption to self-contained vehicles, as the campers had their own chemical toilet; and one for an extension of the three-night maximum stay.
At the end of February, 163 infringement notices had been issued since the bylaw came into effect in October. Of those, 45 were withdrawn. The 118 remaining fines had a total value of $23,000. Of those, 45%, or $10,600, had been paid. March figures were unavailable this week.
