Bay councils lag behind freedom camping law

Hawke's Bay councils all have their own rules spelling out where freedom campers can and can't stay.

But a lobby group for motorhome users says three of the region's four territorial authorities can't enforce penalties under their bylaws because they don't comply with the latest legislation.

The Freedom Camping Act 2011 introduced a significant change in the approach to freedom camping, stipulating it is permitted in council-controlled areas unless it is specifically restricted or prohibited under a bylaw made under the Act.

Napier City Council is the only local authority in the region to adopt a bylaw that makes reference to the 2011 legislation.

Wairoa District Council is consulting with the public ahead of introducing a new bylaw while Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay District Councils have yet to begin consulting.

The four councils' websites all set out where freedom camping is and isn't permitted within their respective districts (details can be found by searching "freedom camping" from their home pages).

But the NZ Motor Caravan Association questions whether the three district councils - given they have yet to move on the Freedom Camping Act - would be able to enforce their current bylaws.

"While they don't have a bylaw in place [under the FCA] they can't really enforce any of the penalties they've put in," NZ Motor Caravan Association Hawke's Bay chairman Doug Lines says.

"The bylaws aren't enforceable because they haven't got the law to back them up."

The potential impact of the Freedom Camping Act on previous bylaws and plans was recognised by Hastings District Council last year when it reviewed its management plan for reserves at Waimarama.

During public consultation on the plan, the NZ Motor Caravan Association asked that freedom camping be allowed on the reserves, in accordance with the new Act.

A legal review by the council "indicated that council's current reliance on its bylaws may be problematic should council be challenged", council staff said in a report to councillors last February.

Napier's new bylaw, adopted in December, bans freedom camping in the city's major shopping and commercial areas, and establishes five "restricted areas" where "self-contained" camping vehicles can park for up to three nights at the same location.

Certified self-contained vehicles have on-board water supply and waste storage capacity for at least three days.

Freedom campers in non-certified vehicles can also stay in the restricted areas, but must comply with waste-disposal rules.

Sleeping in tents is not permitted in the restricted areas without permission.

Elsewhere in the city, freedom camping is only allowed in certified vehicles, and for only one consecutive night at each location.

Hastings District Council's current rules ban freedom camping in vehicles that are not certified as self-contained, and it restricts certified vehicles to parking in eight designated sites around the district.

Wairoa District Council has seven sites, three of which are restricted to certified self-contained vehicles while Central Hawke's Bay District Council has four sites, two of which are for self-contained vehicles only.