About 120 freedom camping infringement fines were issued in the Queenstown Lakes district over the Christmas-New Year holiday period from December 24 to January 4, Lakes Environmental regulatory and corporate manager Lee Webster said.
The figure accounted for more than a third of all infringement notices issued since local enforcement of $200 spot fines began on September 16 last year. Mr Webster said a total of 324 notices had been issued, worth about $65,000 in fines.
He was unable to give a breakdown of specific sites where freedom campers had been caught breaching the QLDC bylaw.
Although about 90% of the freedom camping offences occurred in the Wanaka area, that imbalance could be largely attributed to Queenstown staff being sick during the festive period, he said.
The high number of infringement notices was to be expected at this time of year when there was a considerable influx of visitors into the district.
"That will reduce ... over the coming months, and when we hit March ... it will be getting a lot quieter," Mr Webster said.
