Council adopts freedom camping bylaw
Published on 28 October 2021
Whanganui District Council has formally adopted a freedom camping bylaw to protect sites in the district so that they can be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.
Corporate group manager, Stephanie Macdonald-Rose, says the bylaw introduces regulation where there was previously none. “Under the Freedom Camping Act 2011, Whanganui District Council cannot place a blanket ban on freedom camping but it can create a bylaw to regulate it.
“Our aim with the bylaw is to protect our public places and access to those places for everyone in our community, as well as visitors to our district.
Stephanie Macdonald-Rose says a balanced approach has been taken. “The bylaw only regulates the areas where we have seen a high-level of freedom campers, have received a high-level of complaints or public feedback, or are protecting a place or access to a place.”
The freedom camping bylaw limits how long freedom campers can stay at any one site to no more than four nights in a four-week period. The bylaw also restricts the number of freedom camping spots at sites and includes buffer zones – where camping is not allowed – around freedom camping sites.
After receiving public submissions, councillors decided to prohibit freedom camping at Blyth Street and Pukenamu Drive in order to protect these important Whanganui locations.
In addition to the freedom camping bylaw and in response to concerns surrounding homelessness, the council will work with Safer Whanganui to develop guidance for council staff to ensure homeless people are not detrimentally affected by the administration of the bylaw.
Where homelessness is identified, the council is working with key agencies to connect people with agencies that could help them, including the Ministry of Social Development.
Stephanie Macdonald-Rose says, “The Freedom Camping Bylaw process involved extensive public engagement to take into account the needs of various community groups.”
The Freedom Camping Bylaw comes into effect on 1 November, 2021.