Councillors asked to approve draft Freedom Camping Bylaw 2021

Elected members will be asked to approve a draft Freedom Camping Bylaw 2021 at the Full Council Meeting on Thursday 29 July 2021.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) General Manager Community Services, Thunes Cloete said that there was a need for Council to continue to regulate freedom camping in the district, and that a bylaw was the appropriate method to do so.

“The Queenstown Lakes District is a significant tourist destination and has seen unprecedented growth in visitor numbers over the last decade, some of those being freedom campers,” said Dr Cloete.

“The draft Freedom Camping Bylaw 2021 going before Council adopts the same approach as the Freedom Camping Control Bylaw 2019 but proposes to amend the current areas in which freedom camping is prohibited.”

Following a comprehensive site by site assessment of 105 Council-administered sites where freedom camping could potentially occur, the draft bylaw proposes a number of new areas to prohibit freedom camping in, including:

• Coronet Peak Road/Skippers Canyon Road (to Skippers Saddle)
• Crown Range Road
• Precipice Creek Road Reserve
• Moke Lake Road
• Rafters Road
• Motutapu Road Track End
• Hāwea Flat township
• Whitechapel Reserve

The draft bylaw also recommends that freedom camping remains prohibited within residential and built-up areas.

Following over 820 public responses already received on a freedom camping survey in July, a number of locations are proposed to allow restricted freedom camping, allowing only certified self-contained vehicles. These locations are:

• Gibbston Reserve carpark
• Glenorchy Domain carpark
• Camphill Road carpark
• Morven Ferry Reserve
• Luggate Red Bridge Reserve

Dr Cloete continued that 70% of the responses QLDC received on the survey came from residents in the district, and the majority of these residents supported areas which prohibit freedom camping.

“The Freedom Camping Act 2011 (FCA) allows freedom camping anywhere in a local authority area, except at those sites where it is specifically prohibited or restricted by that local authority,” Dr Cloete said.

“The restricted sites we’re proposing to allow certified self-contained vehicles have been selected as they are locations where freedom camping can be managed through more specific and identified controls.”

The proposed restricted sites will have a maximum number of carparks (except for Luggate Red Bridge Reserve) available for certified self-contained vehicles, along with a maximum stay of two nights at each site.

Dr Cloete said that QLDC’s officers enforcing the current bylaw had reported that it worked well and that they issued a small number of infringement notices compared to the large number of responsible campers visiting the district.

“Our belief is that the draft Freedom Camping Bylaw 2021 strikes the balance between providing appropriate areas for freedom camping, while prohibiting the action from occurring in sites that are not suitable,” said Dr Cloete.

If approved for public consultation, submissions on the draft Freedom Camping Bylaw 2021 will open at 9.00am on Monday 2 August 2021 and close at 5.00pm on Friday 3 September 2021.

ENDS|KUA MUTU.

QLDC Media contact: communications@qldc.govt.nz or call 03 441 1802.

FURTHER INFORMATION | Kā pāroko tāpiri:

QLDC Freedom Camping Control Bylaw 2019: https://www.qldc.govt.nz/media/llwhsiib/qldc-freedom-camping-bylaw-2019-final.pdf

Current Freedom Camping Control Bylaw 2019 Maps: https://www.qldc.govt.nz/media/gq0aghix/freedom-camping-bylaw-maps-2019.pdf

Draft Freedom Camping Bylaw 2021: https://www.qldc.govt.nz/media/3qkemk4a/7g-attachment-g-draft-qldc-freedom-camping-bylaw-2021.pdf