The Waitaki District Council's proposal to lease out Waitaki lakes camping grounds to private providers has attracted 51 submissions so far.
Submissions close on January 23 and council recreation manager Erik van der Spek is urging the public to make their views known on the proposed changes to the way in which Waitaki lakes camping grounds are managed.
The council is proposing to enter into long-term contracts or lease camping areas to private providers for up to 21 years and grouping the camping grounds for lease as Parsons Rock, Boat Harbour, Loch Laird and the Wildlife Reserve as one group, Ohau C and Falstone as the second and Sailors Cutting on its own.
Lake Middleton would be returned to Crown management.
At present, ratepayers subsidise camping activity by between $25,000 and $125,000 a year, and about 80% of camping ground users come from outside the Waitaki district.
At a public meeting in Otematata last week, camping ground users voiced concerns about public access under private management, a loss of the ''Kiwi-style'' of camping, grounds being overdeveloped by private operators and increases in camping fees.
''This is an important issue and we have already seen quite a lot of people make submissions expressing their opinions on the proposal,'' Mr van der Spek said.
''The camping grounds have been very popular with Kiwi families for many years so it's important that as many people as possible, whether they use the camping grounds or not, let us know what they think about the proposed changes.''
Information about the proposal can be found at public libraries throughout the district, at council offices in Oamaru and Palmerston or at www.waitaki.govt.nz.
