Assessment of specific areas

Any potential areas for prohibition or restriction were assessed against the criteria in section 11(2) of the Act before being included in a freedom camping bylaw. This section states that councils can only prohibit or restrict freedom camping in an area if this is necessary to: 

1. protect the area - to protect areas that are environmentally or culturally sensitive.
2. protect health and safety - to keep freedom campers and other visitors to an area safe.
3. protect access to the area - where the presence of freedom campers could block access or damage infrastructure.

The assessments were completed using a tool which is used by many New Zealand councils and is considered best practice by the sector. This assessment looks at each of the three elements outlined in section 11(2) of the Act to determine whether or not prohibiting or restricting freedom camping is appropriate in the area. The tool provides councils with a standardised and transparent way of applying the Act and demonstrates a clear line of sight between the criteria in the Act, and the bylaw. 

The assessment focused on camping ‘hot spots’ – areas where there is a specific interest in managing freedom camping, areas where freedom camping is likely to occur in the future on local authority land, and areas which Council identified as being appropriate for proactively protecting with a bylaw. Council also reviewed areas which may be suitable for freedom camping in vehicles which are not self-contained. 

Summary of Draft Area Assessments

What was originally proposed?

The Freedom Camping Bylaw proposed to:

• Restrict freedom camping to people in self-contained motor vehicles (i.e. not tents or other temporary structures) 
• Set a maximum of four nights stay in any specific location within any one-month period 
• Prevent freedom camping within 500m of a place you have previously camped within the last month
• Identify areas where people CAN’T freedom camp (prohibited areas) 
• Identify areas where people MAY freedom camp (restricted areas), with a maximum number of self-contained vehicles that can stay in each location  
• Also, we would incorporate the NZ Self-Contained Standards for Freedom Camping into the Bylaw. 

In line with this, we also proposed to make amendments to some of our Reserve Management Plans (RMPs) as follows:

• The following RMPs would be amended by adding the following statement to the Management Intent section of each RMP: “That freedom camping is permitted in self-contained vehicles in designated areas for a maximum of four consecutive nights.” 
  • Hetana Street Reserve, Matamata (Passive RMP)
  • Waitoa Railway Reserve, Waitoa (Passive RMP)
  • Herries Memorial Park, Te Aroha (Active RMP)
  • Waihou Recreation Reserve, Waihou (Active RMP)
• We propose to Remove Te Aroha Domain from Appendix E of the Active RMP, so it is no longer noted as a location which may be appropriate for camping.

Statement of proposal 

Summary of Draft Area Assessments

What our community told us

We received 74 submissions on the proposals, all submissions can be found here.

Council held a hearing we they considered all submissions received. Council then deliberated on the issues and submissions, Council then made some minor changes to the Bylaw before adopting. All information including summaries can be found here.

Amendments made to the proposed Bylaw and RMPs based on submissions received include:

• Amendment to include all sections of the Freedom Camping Act that the Bylaw is made under, to reflect that some NZTA land is included as defined in Schedule 1, and to provide for the inclusion of Schedule 3 to capture any future areas for freedom camping in vehicles that are not self-contained.
• Amendment of the description of Cemeteries in Schedule 1 to include ‘and adjacent roadsides’ to capture cemeteries without formed car parks which utilise roadside parking.
• Minor amendments to the General Policies RMP, to update the definition of certified self-contained within section 5.2 Defined Terms to ensure alignment with the definition of self-contained within the Freedom Camping Act 2011, and to update the introductory section under 8.4 Camping to reflect that Council now has a Freedom Camping Bylaw.

The changes to the RMPs are as follows:

• Amendment to the RMP for Herries Memorial Park and Waihou Recreation Reserve which are within the Council’s Active RMP, and the RMP for Hetana Street Reserve and Waitoa Railway Reserve which are within Council’s Passive RMP. This is to allow for some restricted freedom camping as consistent with the Bylaw.
• Amendment to Appendix E of the Active RMP to remove reference to Te Aroha Domain as a potential site for freedom camping, to make the RMP consistent with the prohibition of this area.

The Bylaw and information about Freedom Camping in the District can be found here and Reserve Management Plans are available to read here. These are also available for viewing at all Council Offices and Libraries.

We're happy to answer any questions you have about freedom camping - feel free to contact us on:

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• 0800 746 467