Camp waste infuriates residents

Kingston residents say they are fed up with the mess left by freedom campers at the lakeside village and want the Queenstown Lakes District Council to take "direct action" in tackling the problem.

"This is becoming a really big and frustrating issue," said Kingston Community Association chairman Peter Gibson.

"We see people camping all over the place without facilities, both at the lay-bys and picnic spots along the lake, and along the lakefront reserve within the village," Mr Gibson said.

"The rubbish left behind is bad enough, but the worst part is the human waste.

It is getting worse, and the locals have even nicknamed one of the lakeside beaches near Kingston `pooh beach' for obvious reasons."

Mr Gibson said he would often see up to 14 campers at the popular lay-bys on the outskirts of the town when he drove past in the evening, and it was not uncommon to see people sleeping in their cars parked around the township.

Members of the community association had told him they had seen people sneak into the local holiday park to use the facilities without paying to stay at the park.

Kingston Motels and Holiday Park manager Peter Connolly was aware of this issue.

"We can't really monitor it effectively, but our customers often report seeing people coming in to use the toilets and showers late at night without staying here at the park.

"It appears to be a common problem around the country," he said.

Queenstown Lakes District Council general manager of community services, Paul Wilson, said bylaws prohibited camping at residential areas around the region, including smaller townships like Glenorchy and Kingston.

But it was legal to park overnight outside residential areas, provided the campervan in question was fully self-contained with toilet facilities, he said.

The problem was most of the freedom campers did not have facilities on board, he said.

Mr Gibson said the association had written to the QLDC asking it to give a group of volunteers from Kingston the authority to patrol on behalf of the council, and to be able to issue fines to those who refused to move to regular camp sites.

But Queenstown Mayor Clive Geddes said while volunteer patrols were a "nice idea", it was not as simple as that.

"If they are authorised by the council to do the task, then it's the council's responsibility that they are given the proper training.

"We will also have to take security matters into account, and look at the health and safety situation.

"Most importantly, we would have to budget for the initiative, and it has to go through the usual council decision process.

"It is not something we can implement overnight," he said.

The council had worked with tourist organisations to battle the freedom-camper problem, with an emphasis on education.

"Unfortunately, we have not seen any improvement through this approach.

So the council will now be looking at other alternatives."

But, in Kingston, locals are not happy with waiting.

"It sounds like a lot of talk, but very little action," Mr Gibson said.