MARTIN DE RUYTER/FAIRFAX NZ

UPSET: Claire Fleming, of River Kitchen Cafe at Millers Acre, is concerned at the impact of freedom campers in the adjoining car park.

Freedom camping in central Nelson car parks is making the city look "cheap and shabby", says MP Nick Smith.

Business owners are also concerned at the impact of tourists using city car parks as makeshift campsites.

Smith is urging the Nelson City Council to tighten up its freedom camping bylaws which he says are "too liberal" and have led to camping getting "out of control" this summer.

Since September last year, the council has allowed freedom camping for certified self contained campers (with toilet and washing facilities) on council land, except in residential areas and on public parks and reserves.

Camper vehicles without toilet facilities can camp close to public toilets. That has seen an upsurge in freedom campers in the Buxton and Montgomery squares car park, and at Millers Acre.

Smith, who is also Conservation Minister, said freedom camping at sites like Millers Acre had "gotten completely out of control this summer."

"This is a prime central city site for which ratepayers and taxpayers have spent millions on a world-class DOC and information centre. We should not allow it to descend into a free-for-all campground for hundreds of travellers who refuse to pay the basic cost of staying in our purpose-built campgrounds," Dr Smith said.

"This liberal approach to freedom camping is not doing anything for Nelson's visitor industry and our reputation. I'm getting complaints from visitors who love our city but say this is making us look cheap and shabby."

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Freedom campers make city 'shabby'

Published February 17, 2014

FoxNews.com

An increased focus on cracking down on whistleblowers has significantly dropped the United States press freedom ranking in the world, a new report says.

Reporters Without Borders annual Freedom Index report ranked the United States 46th in the world regarding freedom of information, a drop of 13 spots from 2012. The report cited the trial and conviction of Private Bradley Manning, the pursuit of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and the Justice Departments seizure of Associated Press phone records in an effort to find the source of a CIA leak, among other cases.

A federal shield law to help journalists protect sources is an urgent need in the United States, said the report, which also blasted the United Kingdom for its detention of the partner of Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who first broke Snowdens bombshell NSA revelations.

Both the U.S. and U.K. authorities seem obsessed with hunting down whistleblowers instead of adopting legislation to rein in abusive surveillance practices that negate privacy, a democratic value cherished in both countries, the report said.

David Cuillier, the president of the Society of Professional Journalists, told FoxNews.com on Monday he agreed with the reports findings and believes the journalism climate in the United States continues to get worse. Part of the problem, he said, is a public that, to a large extent, no longer trusts journalists and believes it's acceptable for the government to intimidate reporters, hide information and threaten journalists with jail time for doing their jobs.

If the people didnt like that, then the government wouldnt do it, Cuillier said. (The government) will do as much as they can get away with. If the public lets them do it, or cheers them on, then theyll do everything they can to control their message.

Finland, the Netherlands and Norway topped the list, while Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan were considered the most hostile nations in the world for press freedom.

The report, which ranks 180 countries, reflects the degree of freedom that journalists, news organizations and (internet users) enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom, according to the studys methodology.

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Report: Press freedom in US drops sharply

Photo by Queenstown Lakes District Council.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council regulatory manager Lee Webster said most offenders this summer had been ticketed in or near Queenstown.

''We've certainly issued less infringements,'' Mr Webster said.

''I can't say whether or not that's because there's been less people in town freedom camping or whether or not it is because people are adhering to the requirements of our bylaw.

''Maybe people are adhering to the bylaw but we do still have those issues.''

The council issued 794 infringement notices between November 2013 and mid-February 2014, 270 fewer than the corresponding months last summer.

''As a council we have to clear that [rubbish from freedom campers] away, [but] where we can, like anyone who's littering ... we try and find if we've got an owner.''

But it was much harder to catch litterers from freedom camping than those from households.

''With someone who's freedom camping it's usually just cans or rubbish without anything that will link it back to a vehicle.

''It's basically just us clearing it up.''

Read more here:

Freedom camping fines drop

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Freedom Industries had $16 million in assets and $6 million in liabilities when it filed for bankruptcy last month, according to documents filed Monday.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Freedom Industries had $16 million in assets and $6 million in liabilities when it filed for bankruptcy last month, according to documents filed Monday.

The company that fouled thousands of West Virginians' water with a chemical leak into the Elk River on Jan. 9, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Jan. 17.

Under the bankruptcy code, Chapter 11 permits a company to reorganize and continue operating.

Freedom markets and distributes chemicals that are mixed by Poca Blending in Nitro. Etowah River Terminal is the storage facility on the Elk that leaked the chemical. It has about a dozen tanks, each of which can hold tens of thousands of gallons of chemicals. It was formerly a Pennzoil facility.

According to the company's statement of financial affairs filed Monday, the company made $25.6 million between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, through its sale of chemicals; $30.6 million between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013; and $19.6 million between July 1, 2013, through when it filed for bankruptcy last month.

The Barlow Drive property, where the leak occurred, is valued at $976,493, according to the filing. It values its tanks at $8,000, the filing shows.

Freedom had $5.3 million in inventory Dec. 31, when it was last calculated, the filing states. Freedom has a $320,000 federal tax lien, according to the filing.

Freedom is holding calcium chloride in its Etowah Terminal facility for Tetra Performance Chemicals, of Dallas, Texas.

Freedom has more than $1 million worth of machinery and more than $5 million in inventory. It stores nearly $400,000 worth of parts at its Beckley facility on Holy Lane.

See more here:

Freedom provides more details in bankruptcy filing