Joseph Johnson

FREEDOM CAMPING: The Christchurch City Council is investigating whether parks and reserves, including those in the red zone, could be made available to freedom campers in a bid to reduce the problems caused by makeshift camps.

Parks and reserves in Christchurch's red zone may be opened up to freedom campers to get them out of the way of residents.

Freedom camping numbers in the city have grown since the quakes and are causing unease among residents forced to put up with unwelcome neighbours.

In a bid to reduce the problems caused by makeshift camps, Christchurch City Council staff are investigating whether parks and reserves, including those in the red zone, could be made available to them and whether some toilet facilities could be left open at night.

"The problem is not going to go away and we need to find some solutions," Councillor Glenn Livingstone said. "The threshold of going down the path of looking at a bylaw has been reached."

A report on freedom camping will be considered by the council on Thursday but it recommends holding off on introducing a bylaw that would limit where freedom campers could go until other options have been exhausted because it could be problematic to enforce.

Earlier this summer a group of freedom campers who had taken up residence in the Beresford St car park in New Brighton upset neighbours by defecating outside and partying late at night.

The campers were all foreign tourists on working holidays and most have since taken up residence in the Waimairi Surf Club car park. Complaints there include campers blocking an emergency entrance to the beach, slamming doors in the middle of the night and using the sand dunes as a toilet.

Chris Smith, who manages the surf club, said the council needed to act. The group using the club car park was "quite confrontational and intimidating" and although there had been no physical altercations so far, tensions were escalating.

More here:

Freedom camps in the red zone