CAMPING THE KIWI WAY

Councils

Many councils don’t have a bylaw, most can’t afford to enforce freedom camping laws or bylaws, and many can barely respond to complaints about freedom campers. Some have decided not to enforce the national law and have no local bylaw.

Councils that DO have a bylaw are in the throes of revisiting them, as they must conform to the changed law by June next year!

Queenstown, which had the strictest prohibitions on freedom campers in NZ and spent the most $$$ on enforcing them, now has no bylaw at all, since the High Court has declared their existing bylaw is invalid. Now they’ve got no income from fines and no more government funds to manage freedom camping, and a new bylaw to create, and might yet have to refund the fines imposed under their invalid bylaw.

Ratepayers are pushing and scrambling to get councils to restrict freedom camping even more and there’s no more government / MBIE transition funding left to support local authorities to monitor their sites this summer.

Vehicles

Hire companies only have until Dec 7th to get the new green warrants for all their vehicles, an impossible task, given the slow and inadequate implementation of the new standards, and we are hearing their distress in the media as the deadline races towards them.

The system set up by both the law and the Plumbers and Gas Fitters Board (PGDB) is not fit for the purpose of this transition period when so many vehicles require certification in a limited time. (Time will tell if it is fit for its ongoing purpose after the transition rush is over.)

In the first 11 months only 6,000 green warrants have been issued overall (11/24), with so many commercial vehicles needing it and a conservative minimum of 75,000 vehicles (more likely 120,000) in NZ overall.

The transition period, as people move from the old blue warrants to the new green warrants, is due to expire 6 June ’25. Minister Doocey has the power, and is considering a time extension for non-commercial camping vehicles. MBIE has consulted the public on whether or how much to extend the time (up to 2 years). (The law does not allow any time extension for hire companies.) 

NZMCA has over 120,000 members who get certification inspections for free. Those who wish to freedom camp (green warrant) need to pay only the government levy (there’s a different coloured warrant for those members who do not wish to freedom camp).

Fixing toilets in campers

Easy solutions and new affordable products are being invented in NZ to help campers permanently fix their toilets to their vehicles so they can pass the new laws and carry on camping. A vocal few, including some inspectors, are trashing some of these innovative ideas.

Campers

Domestic tourist freedom campers are getting angry.With 120,000 or more camping vehicles that is as many as 200,000 angry people.

DOC and commercial campgrounds are nearly fully booked for the summer period in popular places, putting greater pressure on freedom camping sites.

NZMCA has taken up leases on two public campgrounds in Northland. How (and whether) they manage these for the benefit of the camping public or just for the benefit of their members is a worry, particularly for those who do not camp in vehicles. NZMCA have an extensive portfolio of low-cost parks around the country for their members. Leasing exisiting parks is one way for them to extend into new areas, which becomes an issue if they disadvantage the non-member public campers, and non-vehicle campers.

There are still a lot of upset regular freedom campers and permanent vehicle dwellers claiming homelessness in order to be exempt from the freedom camping law. No freedom camping laws or restrictions apply to the homeless who live in their vehicle.

Overall

No end to confusion and misinformation out there about what is lawful or required to be a freedom camper.

No consistency.

No fair control of freedom camping.

It is going to be a crazy camping summer, I suspect. ◊

Reefton freedom camping, West Coast. ©2023 M Richardson

Whakamaru, Waikato ©2023 Bette Cosgrove