But the trust which oversees the camping ground says it is working with the leaseholder and a meeting planned for tomorrow may help find common ground.
Husband and wife Dominik Schmidt and Bor Shua took over the lease on the camping ground and cafe at Curio Bay about three years ago and Mr Schmidt said they had built up Tumu Toka Curioscape and turned it into a million-dollar business.
But he was seriously considering walking away.
‘‘We have been yelled out, told ‘to f... off to our countries’ or ‘you f...... German grab your b.... from Thailand and leave New Zealand,’’ he said.
People were putting up false internet reviews of their cafe and restaurant, driving wild through the ground late at night, forcing paid campers out, Mr Schmidt said.
‘‘We have created such a nice business but these guys constantly come and make trouble.
‘‘They haven’t even been customers here.
‘‘And you get attacked — that I am a guy from another country and stuff like that. I just let it go.
‘‘It is not good for us as there is a lot of people reading all this.’’
The picturesque camping ground is on Crown land with people turning up at all hours to drive through the public road which leads to the bay’s headland.
‘‘That leads to freedom campers who are constantly trying to stay on our sites for free.
‘‘They have all the time of the day to come here and visit this place.
‘‘At 11 o'clock at night when the customers from the camp want to sleep they are driving down this road at speed.
‘‘We have people with spotlights spotting in the campervans and all the stuff.’’
That leads to campers wanting to end their trip early, costing the couple money.
Freedom campers were helping themselves to the camp amenities.
One night, the couple tried to move a freedom camper on but the individual ended up having a go at them.
They were forced to barricade themselves inside their cafe for a couple of hours for safety.
Mr Schmidt had trespassed people illegally camping.
In the end, Mr Schmidt put up a gate to stop access to the camping ground — and the headland — but a letter soon arrived from the Southland District Council saying the gate was illegal, as it was blocking a public road.
Mr Schmidt sought legal advice and put the gate back up.
‘‘There is nothing written in any law that you have the right, 24 hours [a day], to access a nature reserve.’’
He said the trust which oversaw the building had responsibilities.
Work needed to be done and things like rubbish disposal came out of his own pocket.
Although there was much negativity, parts of the community were very supportive and backed what they were doing.
South Catlins Charitable Trust chairman Thomas Buckingham said it was a tricky situation.
There was only one way to get to the headland and that was a road through the camping ground.
‘‘It hadn’t really been an issue until the last couple of years and people have got a bit more aggressive, I guess, in the way they do things and freedom camping and stuff like that,’’ Mr Buckingham said.
A legal opinion sought on the issue suggested people did not need to have vehicle access to Crown land, as long as there was a form of access, he said.
The council might be sympathetic to having a gate, but the trust would have to undertake consultation, which took time and money, he said.
Council statistics showed 80,000-100,000 people visited Curio Bay annually.
That created pressure on amenities and the trust’s only income was the rent payment from Mr Schmidt and Ms Shua.
Things took time and trustees had other jobs, he said.
A new roof was needed on the amenities block and it may have to be enlarged.
The trust was not ‘‘putting its head in the sand’’ and wanted to support the operators of the camping ground, he said.
Mr Schmidt had given the trust an indication he would be moving on when his lease ended in June.
Mr Buckingham was due to meet council staff tomorrow at the area to discuss issues.
The Southland District Council was not able to answer questions until tomorrow.
