Thursday is the official start of the season and coincides with the Dunedin City Council stepping up its enforcement and the opening of the new trial inner-city camping site in Thomas Burns St.
Council parks and recreation group manager Robert West said the trial site, with room for about 65 non self-contained vehicles, would be ready for the first campers on Thursday.
Toilets had been installed and signage would be put up either today or tomorrow.
Council security contractors would step up their enforcement of the city's freedom camping bylaw from Thursday and would increase it again in January and February during the height of the season, Mr West said.
Additional signage and toilets would be installed at the Brighton Domain in the coming weeks.
Both the Warrington and Ocean View sites would be watched closely to determine what impact the inner-city site would have on the number of freedom campers.
Saddle Hill Community Board chairman Scott Weatherall said while he was happy with the work the council had done, more was needed.
He said the public would like to see more management at the Ocean View site so campers stayed within the designated areas.
There still had to be more allocated parking at the Brighton Domain which really ought to happen before Christmas.
He would also like to see some of the lay-bys in Taieri Mouth Rd between Taieri Mouth and Brighton cleaned up and made more attractive for self-contained campers.
Warrington resident Rhys Owen said the community hoped the trial site was a success and took the pressure off the domain during the summer.
More dedicated areas around the city would also be welcomed to take more of the pressure off, he said.
The community was happy the council now asked freedom campers using the domain to arrive before 10pm so they did not disturb residents, but advertising and enforcement of the curfew was needed, he said.
The number of freedom campers using the domain was still excessive and the behaviour of some was still disturbing.
Residents were willing to work with the council to achieve the best outcome for everyone, he said.
