Freedom camping bill passes

The bill will allow councils and DOC to set up infringements for people who leave waste in inappropriate areas. Photo / Thinkstock

Freedom campers are being dumped on unfairly by a new bill allowing instant fines for leaving waste and bans on camping in some areas, Labour and the Greens say.

The Freedom Camping Bill gives councils and the Department of Conservation (DOC) powers to decide where camping is allowed and sets up an infringement regime with offenders facing instant fines of $200 - or up to $10,000 for serious offences such as emptying a campervan sewage tank in a rest area. The changes will come into effect before the rugby World Cup.

The bill passed 67-53 with National, ACT, the Maori Party and United Future in favour.

Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson said it was unfortunate the bill was needed but pristine areas needed protection.

The number of freedom campers had doubled over the past decade to 150,000 and the number of complaints for polluting picnic spots has grown in areas like Queenstown by more than five-fold.

"This legislation targets irresponsible campers that are spoiling our most iconic areas with human waste and litter and angering the communities that host them.

"Introducing instant fine serves as a deterrent and provides councils and the Department of Conservation with the enforcement tools needed to protect our most pristine spots."

Labour MP Phil Twyford, during the third reading debate, said the bill would not make any difference and the main problem was a lack of facilities for campers.

"Practical measures like the provision of more public toilets and more rubbish bins in these scenic out of the way places would be a much better response than this sledgehammer bill from the National Party."

He said the bill would be better named the Anti-Freedom Camping Bill, or The Day National Killed the Kiwi Road Trip Bill.

"This bill seriously undermines and curtails the freedoms that New Zealanders have enjoyed for generations, to enjoy the great outdoors without having some council law enforcement officer knocking on the window of their campervan with their clipboard at two in the morning telling them to move on or slapping a $200 infringement notice on their windscreen."

He said the bill gave councils the power to declare large areas off limits to freedom campers. Under the current system Thames Coromandel District Council and Dunedin City Council effectively banned freedom camping in their areas.

Mr Twyford said the wording of the law was around "perceived problems" rather than proof and there were other confusing clauses. Measures to seize offenders' vehicles was an assault on property rights.

The bill allowed enforcement officers to seize property if it was being used in the commission of a freedom camping offence and they could take down tents or tow vehicles if the offender ignored warnings.

Green MP Kevin Hague said the bill was "ridiculous", people who camped were not consulted and it wouldn't work.

"It's the absence of facilities that is the problem, not actually the freedom camping activity."

Mr Hague said freedom campers had an infinitesimally small impact on fresh water quality while dairying intensification was having a devastating impact.

"This is a bad bill, it is bad from start to finish and this House and this country will regret it."

Ms Wilkinson told Parliament that councils could not issue blanket bans and the bill was pro-camper.

Instant fines removed the need for costly prosecutions, she said.

- NZPA

- NZPA