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"Freedom campers" constrained in New Zealand by local regulations

Xinhua, October 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

New Zealand has staked its tourism appeal on a reputation for a clean and green environment and a love of the great outdoors, but visitors wanting to pitch camp in the great outdoors are finding ever fewer sites open to them.

The practice of "freedom camping", pitching a tent or parking a campervan by a beach or lake or another scenic spot, has been increasingly curtailed by local authorities fed up with cleaning up the mess left by some campers.

Freedom campers can now face fines for sleeping out in unauthorized places and must navigate a patchwork of regulations as they move from one local government area to another.

However, Local Government Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga on Friday said the central government was moving to tidy up the regulations as the country risked losing the benefits of a burgeoning freedom camping market.

Lotu-Iiga said he had commissioned a joint working group to improve the effectiveness and reliability of the local bylaws system, specifically prioritizing the freedom camping regime.

"Last year nearly 44,000 international visitors went freedom camping while they were here. As well, a growing number of New Zealanders also travel the country by campervan, in commercial rental vehicles or in their own cars," Lotu-Iiga said in a statement.

"I am expecting to see some real improvements in the way freedom camping is managed and regulated as a result of this working group. With freedom camping season approaching this is a priority."

It was becoming clear that tighter local controls on freedom camping were having unintended consequences.

"More visitors, with fewer places to go is concentrating campers in limited locations," said Lotu-Iiga.

"When councils regulate locally they need to be thinking regionally and nationally about the impact."

The government was working to give local councils the tools to get benefits for their communities from the freedom camping market.

"Otherwise we risk missing an opportunity to see real benefits from these visitors, especially for regions with limited accommodation options," he said.

The analysis on freedom camping was expected by the end of this month. Endit