Freedom campers clog up reserve

Marine Parade’s North Parade carpark is a magnet for freedom campers, with some even pitching tents beside their vehicles.

Concerns over freedom campers hogging Art Deco Weekend parking spots close to Napier's CBD - and turning a central reserve into a makeshift camp ground - will be reviewed by the council.

During Napier's busiest weekend of the year, when Art Deco event attendees struggled to find parking in the city, carparks in the nearby North Parade reserve, off Marine Parade, were packed out yesterday, predominantly with campervans, vans and station wagons.

The vehicles in the carpark, on the port side of Ocean Spa, were populated by visitors who had made the tree-lined reserve their home for the weekend so they could use its toilet block and outdoor showers. Some had set up tents and awnings.

French freedom campers Marie Giovannetti (left), and Camille Bassignana spent the weekend parked up on Marine Parade's northern car park.

Among the visitors camped out at the reserve yesterday were French travellers Marie Giovannetti and Camille Bassignana.

The pair said they were halfway through an eight-month working holiday in New Zealand and were taking time off over the weekend from jobs in a local pack house.

They were living in their van while in New Zealand because it was a cheap accommodation option and staff at the Napier i-Site visitor information centre had recommended the North Parade carpark as a suitable freedom camping spot.

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said freedom camping was an issue the council was working through after a law change which required it to alter its approach to dealing with the matter.

"Once upon a time a local authority such as us could tell people where they were allowed to park for freedom camping. Now the law is they can park anywhere except areas where we say they can't.

"We have to have extremely good reasons to say they can't park in a certain area," Mr Dalton said.

"This is the first Art Deco Weekend we've had since the new law has been in so we will, in our debrief of the event, look at how we can make it better for everyone, including the people who want to camp."

In December last year, the council adopted a bylaw which prohibits freedom camping within the city's CBD, and in the Marewa, Tamatea and Taradale shopping precincts.

Brian Fisher, who runs the Fishbike cycle hire shop beside the North Parade reserve, said he had never experienced problems with freedom campers using the grounds.

"That's young people - they're just saving money and experiencing the world," he said.

"It certainly brings a lot more life and activity to the reserve, which is great. They're very clean and tidy."

Freedom campers were not his business's target market, Mr Fisher said, but people staying at the reserve popped into the shop from time to time to ask us if they could charge their cellphones.