The New Zealand Motor Caravan Association's new camping area in Tūrangi has space for up to 140 self-contained motorhomes. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
The New Zealand Motor Caravan Association's new camping area in Tūrangi has space for up to 140 self-contained motorhomes. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
Bringing money into town - or undermining local business?
While motorhomers are embracing a new New Zealand Motor Caravan Association members-only parking area on Atirau Rd, Tūrangi, a local campground operator says it's sucking away much-needed business from their campground which was already offering a significant discount to NZMCA members.
Up to 140 motorhomes can fit on the 2.4ha site on Atirau Rd, which is being leased from the Ngāti Turangitukua Charitable Trust and opened just before Christmas last year.
For $3 per adult per night, there is access to water and a rubbish skip. It is only open to NZMCA members and all vehicles must be certified self-contained as there are no toilets or kitchen facilities on site. Users register and pay online and can stay a maximum of 10 days in any 30 day period.
There are 47 similar NZMCA parks around the country, including one at Taupō Airport.
James Imlach, NZMCA national manager property and policy, says the opportunity to open a Tūrangi camping area for members came up a couple of years ago.
"One of our local members was in conversation with somebody from Ngāti Turangitukua Charitable Trust who own the land and out of that conversation came a proposal to lease a site from them.
"We negotiated a lease, applied for resource consent last year and the process was pretty smooth and we were lucky enough to get things done and have it open in time for Christmas."
Mr Imlach says the association has entered into a long-term lease agreement with the Ngāti Turangitukua Charitable Trust at no cost to the trust.
"We've taken care of the cost of setting the agreement up and developing the site and maintaining it….we're really grateful to the trust for giving us this opportunity."
There are four locals who act as voluntary custodians at the park. The association has put up a small registration shed and paid for a fence around the site, with a row of deer fencing along the back boundary. There were also plans to ask the trust for permission to do some planting around the boundary and inside the park to beautify the area. Apart from that, there was little else that needed to be done, Mr Imlach said.
He said the association had already identified Tūrangi as a possible location for a park because it was a popular area with members.
An earlier site in Grace Rd had fallen through because during the consent process, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency had stipulated that a roundabout would need to be built at the State Highway 1 and Grace Rd intersection and the cost was prohibitive.
Mr Imlach said there had been "some really great feedback" from members about the Tūrangi site because the location was on the way to places members liked to visit and it was close enough to the Tūrangi town centre that people could walk or bike into town.
Comments included "plenty of room", "great site", and "we will be back", with mentions of the coffee cart, hot pools and Tongariro River Trails.
Because the site was so new he did not have any figures on average daily spend in Tūrangi for members staying at the park.
But local campground operators are unhappy with the new park which they say is killing their business.
Campers at the Tūrangi Holiday Park. Its owners are trying to diversity into selling coffee and South African food in a bid to keep the park afloat. Photo / Supplied
Riza de Buys, of the Tūrangi Holiday Park & Rangers Outdoors, said the park offered NZMCA CampSaver, which in winter is a discounted rate of $22 for two adults on a powered site which includes use of park facilities and dump station. In summer, the cost is $23 per person. She said the holiday park agreed to offer the CampSaver rate and then the NZMCA went ahead anyway and opened its new park. Some of the users even had the audacity to still come to the holiday park and ask to use its facilities and dump station for free.
"The freedom camping and their campsite is killing us," Riza says of the new park. "If we compare occupancy from NZMCA from last year and the same now, it's totally down because they are staying [at the new park].
"But we get the nice ones that come and say they would rather stay here and they can stay for $22. We get people coming and saying they won't ever stay there, they'll always stay with us because the facilities are great."
Riza says after the closure of freedom camping at Five Mile Bay last year, the Tūrangi Holiday Park experienced a lift in occupancy from NZMCA members - until the NZMCA park opened and siphoned away the holiday park users.
"It's terrible, we are just trying to make a living. I don't think they realise how a small business is struggling with it."
To try to survive the de Buys have opened a small shop at the holiday park selling coffee, biltong and other South African food and warm tramping clothing for people who are unprepared for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
Tūrangi Holiday Park. Photo / Supplied
Hydro Eatery owner Scott Johnson said it was hard to tell whether the cafe had had an increase in business since the park opened as unless people actually arrived in their motorhomes it was not always clear where they were coming from.
However, a worker at the Creel Tackle House & Cafe in Taupahi Rd said they had noticed an increase in people coming to the cafe while walking or cycling the Tongariro River Trail.
"They've been saying that [the campground] is where they've come from...it's been noticeable this year since it's been there."
