The Otago Regional Council looks set to take more of a role in curbing the negative effect some freedom campers are having on the region.
At a full council meeting held in Balclutha last week, regional councillors voted to assess the potential for the council's formal involvement in the mayors' meeting with Minister of Tourism Kelvin Davis next month.
The minister has invited 22 mayors to a meeting to discuss solutions to freedom camping problems across New Zealand.
Crs Michael Laws and Cr Carmen Hope put forward the motion, with councillors voting unanimously in support of it.
Council chairman Stephen Woodhead said the vote did not necessarily mean the council would take a more active role in enforcement of freedom camping bylaws in the region.
But it did mean the council was open to doing what it could on land for which it was responsible.
``There was some discussion around whether we've got some responsibilities or not and my reading of the Act is that it allows councils to put in place bylaws on the land they own,''
Unlike district and city councils or government department areas, such as the Department of Conservation sites, regional council land was not usually as accessible for campers, Mr Woodhead said.
``We generally don't have reserves or camping type sites that district councils do so it's about looking at what role we might play.''
Cr Laws said Otago was one region badly affected by the excesses of freedom camper behaviour in recent years.
The regional council needed to be part of the discussion about freedom camping and the motion signalled a desire for it to get involved in any policy solution, he said.
