Resident concerned at camping plan

Estimated 12,000 at Campbells  BayWaitaki district councillor Melanie Tavendale visits  Campbells...
Waitaki district councillor Melanie Tavendale visits Campbells Bay in February. Photo by Hamish MacLean.

Kakanui residents' wishes could be second to those of freedom campers when a plan is made for a Waitaki freedom camping hotspot, an opponent to freedom camping at Campbells Bay fears.

Peter Newberry, whose home overlooks Campbells Bay, says he and another resident have been counting comings and goings and reckon about 12,000 campers have spent the night in front of his house since last October.

He said he opened his curtains every morning for the past six months to see "a horrendous amount of people'' camped across the street on land part-owned by both the Kakanui Ratepayers and Improvement Society and the Waitaki District Council.

He wanted an end to freedom camping in front of his house and he had concerns about the direction the council wanted to take in a community plan floated at the last ratepayers society meeting.

"I bought a house when I was 21. That was 34 years ago,'' he said.

"And the reason I bought on the beach was I knew nobody would be able to build me out. But now I've got to stare at this other [rubbish].''

A general bylaw review and freedom camping subcommittee was created by the council at the end of March.

Rules were expected to be in place for freedom camping for the entire district in time for the next camping season.

However, a parallel process, a plan for Kakanui, was to be created at the same time.

Mr Newberry said he was sceptical of the consultation as the council put plans in place.

"To me it's like they hold them [freedom campers] in more esteem than the people of the community,'' he said.

"That's the bit that I can't work out, because, when you do talk to councillors, they just say, ‘Oh, we understand what you're saying but we hope to find common ground.' In other words, ‘We'll listen to you, but we'll still go ahead with certain things that you don't really want.'

"They'll just make you feel happy, and they'll give you a certain amount of things that you want, but they'll give you what they want too. They just want to promote the area.

"We just don't want people jammed in our face. We don't want to stare at it every day. That's the thing.

"It's become a big, big ugly monster.''

The plan he had seen was considering adding walking tracks and cycle tracks to Kakanui, amenities for visitors prioritised over infrastructure required by locals.

However both the council's subcommittee chairwoman Cr Melanie Tavendale, of Kakanui, and society secretary Lucianne White were positive about preliminary meetings to put rules in place for freedom campers.

Cr Tavendale said the plan floated at the society's meeting was a "conversation starter'' only.

"Basically, what [the society] has seen is a draft plan that hasn't even been discussed around the [council] table,'' she said.

"This is a bit of doodling and this is where we are starting the conversation.''

Cr Tavendale said focus groups would be formed "early'' so people such as Mr Newberry, who had "unique and understandable issues'', could be heard before any real draft plans were created.

"I totally see where [Mr Newberry] is coming from and I think the majority of people, if they took a moment, could relate to his issues ... and realise they probably wouldn't be that happy either.''

Mrs White said the ratepayers society, established in the 1930s, had a longstanding relationship with the council.

"I think this is probably one of the biggest challenges we have faced in the whole history of consultation with council, but having been in those meetings with the council ... they really do want to make it work for residents and they are really prepared to listen to what we believe the village should look like.

"It's a real challenge, finding a solution that ties together such a diverse range of wants and needs and identified concerns, but I think so far the conversations with council have been really positive.''

hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz

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