The New Zealand Motor Caravan Association has urged the Waitaki District Council to "take a step back" on its proposed Responsible Freedom Camping Bylaw.
The association’s national policy and planning manager James Imlach said he largely supported the proposed bylaw, including the requirement for freedom campers to travel in certified self-contained vehicles.
But he did question the council’s proposals.
"Is this actually the most appropriate and proportionate way of dealing with the issues? Can we take a step back ... and say ‘Why don’t we see if we can find a place in that area for freedom camping so that everybody actually has a fair outcome here?’."
Mr Imlach said that by restricting camper vans to self-contained vehicles in the proposed Waitaki District Responsible Freedom Camping Bylaw, the council could have "already in a way addressed those issues" that had created problems in the district in the past.
He said in some cases the council could have explored "less coercive" means to control the problems associated with freedom camping.
During a 30-minute conference call with councillors at the council’s extraordinary council meeting for hearing submissions on the bylaw this week, Mr Imlach questioned the proposed blanket ban on freedom camping on council land at Campbells Bay, Kakanui, as well as the restriction that would prohibit all freedom camping in front of a residential property.
He supported the council’s desire to find a way to stop those visitors to the district who were "brushing teeth in the gutter".
"But why would you have to prohibit people in self-contained vehicles who aren’t causing a problem, who have a legal right to park on the road and the only difference between that and freedom camping is somebody sleeping in the vehicle and not sleeping in the vehicle?"
He suggested the council could have looked at restricting the number of self-contained vehicles allowed to spend the night at Campbells Bay.
"They’re recreational visitors. They should also be allowed to use public areas, just as much as somebody else wants to. Maybe a more proportionate response would be to demarcate an area within that larger area where people can freedom camp so they’re not taking over the whole site."
The council’s freedom camping subcommittee chairwoman Melanie Tavendale said there were "some really good points" in the Motor Caravan Association’s submission — and others — and there was some "room for refinement" in the bylaw.
She said when the proposed bylaw was drafted, there were concerns that prohibitions in some areas could create problems for other areas that had not been protected by the bylaw.
"We looked at what were the problems now and what could potentially become problems if we essentially prohibited in some areas and not others," she said.
The Department of Conservation (Doc) was concerned that limiting freedom camping in the district could create spillover into nearby Doc areas, such as the Moeraki Boulders and Shag Point, where camping was prohibited, but which attracted overnight visitors nevertheless.
Doc asked if the council would consider extending its policing of areas covered by the bylaw to these areas on the department’s behalf, and if not, what measures it had considered to mitigate the possibility of increasing freedom camping on the public conservation land.
The Otago Chamber of Commerce’s North Otago Advisory Board also asked for flexibility in the plan.
It asked the council to consider a policy which could create short-term freedom camping zones for peak demand, or special events, and the possibility of exemption certificates, which it suggested could be issued to allow for family or friends to stay overnight in campervans in front of a residential property during gatherings.
Cr Tavendale said the proposed bylaw’s restriction banning freedom camping outside residential areas had seemed to create "unintended consequences".
The bylaw expected to be approved by councillors in September, "may look different" from the one that was proposed, she said.
