Waitaki district councillor Melanie Tavendale said this week's trial social media live chat for the Draft Responsible Freedom Camping Bylaw 2016 presented a "learning curve'', but she called it a success.
About a dozen took part in the chat hosted on the council's Facebook page, while several others submitted on the bylaw through the social media site during the day.
Cr Tavendale along with council corporate planner Victoria van der Spek and regulatory services manager Lichelle Guyan answered questions for an hour and a-half on Wednesday night.
"We were really impressed,'' Cr Tavendale said.
"We didn't know what to expect. It was the first time we had ever done anything like that in terms of submissions.
"We have had public meetings where only a handful of people have turned up, so I think it was time well spent for us.''
Questions were raised about whether locals ought to be allowed to set up tents to camp at the beach, which would be banned under the proposed bylaw.
A suggestion was made that user-pays toilets and rubbish bins would better dissuade large crowds of camper vans.
Questions about a national strategy, about how the policing of a bylaw would work or change the atmosphere at freedom camping sites were also raised.
This would be the only public meeting on the draft bylaw, Cr Tavendale said.
A council spokeswoman said 12 submissions had been received prior to the Facebook chat. Submissions close on July 25.
