The Hawea Community Association is spending $2675 to place large boulders across accessways leading to scenic rest areas beside Lake Hawea at Craig Burn, Deep Bay, and a State Highway 6 lookout over the lake.
HCA member John Taylor said residents had decided to "make a stand" and block access to the areas, which had been fouled by rubbish, pollution, and human waste left behind by freedom campers.
"We want to take a course of action that makes a statement.
"It puts more pressure on agencies to think about what is going on and come up with solutions," he said.
The messy issue of freedom campers had gained more and more traction since the Otago Conservancy Board member Andrew Penniket called for a national ban on campervans, while New Zealand Motor Caravan Association president Dick Waters said freedom campers should be shot.
The pair subsequently moderated their statements after being reported in the national media, as politicians jumped on the bandwagon with a message to improve education for travellers who used campervans without inbuilt toilets.
Preaching education to travellers using non-self-contained campervans was "all well and good", but failed to face up to the mess and human pollution they created, Mr Taylor said.
"We want to see action.
"If freedom campers weren't creating this issue we wouldn't have to react."
It was unfair for ratepayers to have to foot a cleanup bill just because their communities were located on major tourist-road routes, Mr Taylor said.
The association was mindful of the effect the barriers would also have on local users, such as picnic-goers and water-skiers used to access.
The association had sought feedback about the measures to block freedom campers and, so far, it had been positive, he said.
"Once people see the mess for themselves they are all for taking action."
The association had consulted Land Information New Zealand, the Queenstown Lakes District Council, and the Department of Conservation about the measures to block roadside access to the areas, Mr Taylor said.
While he accepted mess associated with freedom campers would possibly be displaced elsewhere once access was blocked, "something needed to be done".
"We're very protective of an environment we consider and treat like our front yard.
The disrespect shown by [freedom campers] is disgraceful," he said.
