Responsible Campers Association Inc, have this week advised that a Complaint has been Lodged with the Ombudsman over Kaikoura District Councils new Freedom Camping bylaw.

The Association says the new bylaw is wrong on so many levels, while Kaikoura is concernedly being used by the Tourism Minister, Hon Kelvin Davis, as a case study.

“The new bylaw only recognizes a small minority of freedom campers - those in RV’s, while totally ignoring the many others defined under the Freedom Camping Act.

This is even more concerning, as in the Draft Bylaw, Kaikoura had recognized those other Freedom Campers and had included a definition of “Self Contained Camping” which required no certification, making it inclusive not exclusive. They also identified a number of sites suitable for tents, Kaikoura District Council therefore knew better and can not deny that fact.

As part of enabling only RV’s to freedom camp, Kaikoura has restricted camping to Certified Self Contained campers only. A program which has achieved little of value in nearly 30 years and recently has been called the biggest scam in New Zealand. It is available only for a small group of Freedom Campers, mostly members of a large RV club, while also being considered as non compliant with Bill of Rights.

Additionally Kaikoura’s new bylaw breaches section 12 of the Freedom Camping Act which prohibits Councils making bylaws that blanket ban Freedom Camping across their Districts. Under the Act there is a procedure for Councils to go through for each site where they seek to prohibit camping. Kaikoura have failed to do this instead opting to provide several sites where camping is permitted.

Responsible Campers Association are aware of concerns held by the Council over the potential of losing ‘Motorhome Friendly Town” (MHFT) status and the possible damage that could do to their tourism industry. The Association is at odds with how welcoming a minority group of Tourists while ignoring others is seen as beneficial to their Tourism Industry - surely welcoming all Tourists on an equal footing would have more benefits?

It is a condition of having MHFT status that the town welcomes Motorhome’s that are Certified Self Contained and have signage and publicity stating that. Lately it appears this program is also used as leverage so the promoter of MHFT’s can gain additional benefits for its own members at the cost of tax and ratepayers while ignoring the majority of Freedom Campers.

These concerns relating to a private organization can not be justified in a fair and democratic society.

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