Dean Kozanic\/Fairfax NZ <\/p>\n
EYES ON CAMPERS: Marine Pde, New Brighton, is popular among freedom campers. Alex Doroschenko, a German tourist, camped near Thompson Park this week as part of a freedom camping trip around New Zealand. <\/p>\n
South Island councils are taking a Big Brother approach to freedom campers this summer with officers monitoring hot spots across the city and Banks Peninsula. <\/p>\n
Last year freedom campers clogged up the car park at the Akaroa boat ramp, creating chaos when boaties went to launch. They washed their hair under a tap. They cleaned their teeth at a drinking fountain. <\/p>\n
Tensions boiled over and there were conflicts between boaties and tourists. <\/p>\n
Residents at Catons Bay reportedly let out roosters to drive freedom campers away. <\/p>\n
This year \"no camping\" zones were introduced around the Akaroa boat ramp to encourage people to use motorcamps instead, Akaroa-Wairewa Community Board chairwoman Pam Richardson said. <\/p>\n
\"That's where the facilities are and that's where people should be,\" she said. <\/p>\n
The solution falls short of a bylaw, which councils on the West Coast and in the North Island have implemented. <\/p>\n
In 2011 the Government passed the Freedom Camping Act, giving councils the power to regulate the practice. <\/p>\n
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Councils keeping watch on freedom camper hot spots<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dean Kozanic\/Fairfax NZ EYES ON CAMPERS: Marine Pde, New Brighton, is popular among freedom campers. Alex Doroschenko, a German tourist, camped near Thompson Park this week as part of a freedom camping trip around New Zealand. South Island councils are taking a Big Brother approach to freedom campers this summer with officers monitoring hot spots across the city and Banks Peninsula. Continue reading