Camping body names chairwoman

Mackenzie District Council chief executive Suzette van Aswegen has been named chairwoman of a joint-agency land-management group to oversee camping in the Waitaki and Mackenzie Basins.

Mackenzie and Waitaki district councils would, along with the Department of Conservation, Land Information New Zealand and NZ Transport Agency, form the Mackenzie and Waitaki Basins Responsible Camping Strategy Working Group, a statement issued by the Waitaki District Council said.

Infrastructure requirements at sites such as Ahuriri Bridge, Lake Poaka and Lake Wardell would be addressed in the coming weeks, Ms van Aswegen said.

Although the working group’s focus was on short-term camping solutions, future work would develop a 20 to 30-year strategy for managing long-term visitor pressures while allowing communities to benefit from tourism, she said.

The first meeting of the working group would take place on Monday,  in Timaru.