Freedom clamping is about to begin in the Lakes district.
Faced with an average 30 ‘‘unlawful campers'' each week, the Queenstown Lakes District Council announced yesterday it planned to introduce wheel clamping.
Regulatory manager Lee Webster said the council's Freedom Camping Bylaw was passed in December 2012 - and every year since ratepayers had been left about $30,000 out of pocket by people leaving the country without paying their fines.
In the calendar year to date, the council had issued 2149 infringement notices for illegal freedom camping - each worth $200 - but only 1017 had been paid, leaving an outstanding balance of $226,400.
The number of infringements issued was ‘‘definitely on the increase'' with infringement notices issued last year numbering about 1500.
The bylaw enabled visitors in certified self-contained vehicles - those with their own toilet and water supply on board - to spend the night in areas where freedom camping was permitted.
Those who stayed in vehicles without their own facilities, or in prohibited areas - for example, town centres or lakefront reserves - were fined.
Some rental companies had been ‘‘unwilling'' to on-charge their clients' credit cards for the unpaid fines, Mr Webster said
‘‘Some people will just be thinking ‘well, what are you going to do?' And that's the problem that we have, not just for Queenstown but nationally, that people are just leaving the country and not paying.
‘‘It is frustrating and it's a matter that we have raised with the Government as well through the Rules Reduction Taskforce.
''In the interim, the council has decided to take matters into its own hands and will start freedom clamping by Christmas.
Additionally, more signs would be erected in the most common ‘‘problem areas'', which tended to be in and around the Queenstown CBD, and more people would be employed to conduct nightly checks.
Those who did not heed advice would be clamped, with drivers required to pay a $200 up-front fee to have the clamp removed, as well as being issued with the $200 fine for breaching the bylaw.
‘‘At the end of the day, we welcome freedom campers, but people and those campers need to follow our community's rules.''
Mr Webster said while it might be tempting for residents to have a conversation with visitors who were breaching the bylaw, ‘‘in every instance'' they were advised to contact the council to deal with the situation.
