A pilot project aimed at reducing the problems associated with illegal freedom camping around Fiordland appears to be working, with not a single call of complaint made to the Department of Conservation this year.
DOC amenities project manager Ren Leppens said Fiordland was known nationally as a “hot spot” for problems associated with freedom camping – primarily litter and defecation on roadsides – but he was delighted to record a significant improvement this summer.
“I have not received a complaint yet this year,” he said. “Last year I was at my wits’ end – e-mails, photos, phone calls, people knocking at the door, and we didn’t have the resources to deal with it last year.”
In late October, Fiordland led the country by appointing the first dedicated freedom camping ranger, jointly funded by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Southland District Council. The position, held by Bevan Webster, is full-time for seven months. His main job is to educate visitors about where they can and can’t camp but he also has the power to issue $200 infringement notices for non-compliance. Previously such action was impossible until the Government’s passing of freedom camping legislation in time for the Rugby World Cup, which finally gave teeth to local by-laws.
The camping ranger’s primary role is to promote responsible camping and to that end DOC designated Queen’s Reach, 10 minutes from Te Anau, as a free camping site. This area had a flush toilet installed last year with a containment capacity of almost 4000 litres. There is also a long drop. This free site has been listed on flyers, which also indicate the location of commercial camping grounds, being handed out to freedom campers.
Since the project began Queen’s Reach has regularly been host to around 50 vehicles a night – about 75 at its peak. Mr Leppen said rangers visited the site every day checking numbers, that people were behaving and that they were aware of fire restrictions. Every second day the toilets were cleaned, toilet paper restocked and a check made for litter or defecation.
“We’re keeping a close eye on it,” Mr Leppens said.
“We’re monitoring numbers and that’s going some way to putting a case to upgrade the (toilet) facilities for next season.”
Destination Fiordland had reported that local camping grounds were having a good season, indicating that the free site was successfully moving freedom campers away from inappropriate areas rather than from commercial operators.
Since the ranger was appointed at the end of October, 27 campers have been fined – most because they had flagrant disregard for the rules such as parking next to ‘no camping’ signs or failing to move on when requested.
All up 189 vehicles had been asked to move on. Another 103 had been discovered in the morning and therefore could have been eligble for a ticket but instead they were educated and their details noted. All of those vehicles had complied and moved on straight away and only one had come to the ranger’s attention a second time, Mr Leppens said.
The information collected was also providing DOC with really good statistics on how many people were being caught on council land, conservation land or private properties, he said.