The summer holiday season will soon be underway and Westland District is preparing to welcome domestic tourists to experience the beauty of the district. To ensure that everyone is offered an exceptional experience, $500,000 of funding from MBIE Responsible Camping Fund has been secured to reinstate responsible camping infrastructure around the district.

“With the funding, Council will be able to put the temporary toilets and rubbish bins back. We will also be able to provide local jobs servicing the sites, and roles for education, enforcement and compliance. There will be good signage, which educates about Council’s expectations of people who are using these sites”, says Simon Bastion, Chief Executive.

“Under the Freedom Camping Act, we can’t have a blanket ban on responsible camping so where possible, we have created partnerships with local businesses. This helps to keep the responsible camping sites outside of the townships. It’s great that we are able to return some of the funds to the community through the job opportunities and reduce the burden to ratepayers with this funding. We hope to have a strong summer season, which will help businesses stay afloat and keep people employed.”

Infrastructure will be installed at the camping sites ready for the beginning of the season in November.

The following sites will be open:

· Treetops Walkway, Mahinapua

· Paringa Salmon Farm

· Okuku

Council will continue to investigate further options for suitable sites.

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