The Self-Contained, Uncontained Problem Still Looms

16 October

The recent changes to the New Zealand Freedom Camping regulations are causing significant concern in the rental vehicle industry.

“There has been some relief with the recent revision to allow unventilated cassette toilets in campervans,” says Ben McFadgen, CEO of the Rental Vehicle Association of New Zealand, “but there are still challenges. Chiefly, the requirement for those toilets to be permanently fixed, and the proposed timelines to enact the changes – which remains 7th December 2024 for rental vehicles, and 7th June 2025 for privately owned vehicles.

“However, the government has now signalled that it intends to extend the timeline for private vehicles by up to 24 months. Which we believe will cause more inequity in an already diverse campervan market. There will be radically different vehicles on the road for a long period of time. It will likely also lead to an increase in cheaper private vehicles being bought and sold at the airport by backpackers - the very scenario these regulation updates intended to remedy.”

The ventilation requirement for cassette toilets was removed in August of this year. “It shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” says McFadgen, “It cost the industry hundreds of hours in administration because of a lack of understanding by the regulators. They were advised about the unsustainability of requiring cassette toilets to be ventilated. They went ahead and did it anyway…

“It’s been changed, great; except now we have small unventilated chemical toilets permanently fixed into the campers. They’ll be a nightmare to clean and keep sanitised. Operators used to be able to remove the toilets and clean them well away from the vehicle. Now they have to set up a viable, effective and safe process for in-vehicle cleaning that protects the campervans, the operators and the travellers. We think this has the potential to go well south,” says Mr McFadgen.

“There is also little if any evidence showing a permanently fixed toilet will be used more, or easily, than the previous portable chemical toilets.

“And there is apparently nothing in the new certifying test requiring the ability to use the toilet with the bed made up. This was a requirement under the previous regulations which helped maintain some form of standard. Now that’s gone, we are concerned that toilets will be "permanently fixed" but very difficult if not impossible to use.

“It will be up to certifying authorities to check they still can be, I guess. If it’s even on their radar.” McFadgen says. “Regardless, if you consider the proposed timeline for the compliance of rental and private vehicles, we believe there is a major problem looming for New Zealand tourism. It's October and the number of rental vehicles that have been certified is around 3000. Depending on who you talk to, there is another 2,000-4,000 to go before the 7th December. Problem is, we are already hearing of vehicles that have been certified under the new green warrant but fall well short of the new regulations, they’re being sold on Trademe and Facebook – all that’s happened is they’ve fixed the toilet down.

“It’s now easier than ever before to have your vehicle certified. Some of the work we have seen is very shoddy and should never have been passed. Operators who are actually following the rules and doing it properly are spending $1000 per vehicle in an already tight economy. They are also having to throw away perfectly safe and usable toilets to meet the new regulations… that’s great for resource sustainability isn’t it.”

There are challenges around enforcement. “How is a council inspector going to monitor camper compliance in a busy campsite, during peak season, at night, and often in a remote area?” asked McFadgen, “suffice to say we don’t think enforcement will be consistent, and we are concerned about potential damage to New Zealand's brand.”

And then you look at the confusion in the peer-to-peer rental sector. “They’re not even clear on the fact that private individuals need a rental service licence, not just the sharing platform. Let alone the re-certifying date for those individuals, which for them would be the 7th of December. All-in-all, we think it’s going to get messy,” says McFadgen.

“What we simply do not understand is what the beef government has with the rental vehicle industry. The vehicles that we provide are significantly better maintained and set-up compared to private vehicles. They’re safe, we educate on travelling responsibly and we provide 24-hour support to people exploring NZ in our vehicles. Yet we are being effectively penalised because of this. It’s not like we have money growing on trees. The economy is in recession. Tourism forecasts are low. What is it about business that this government doesn’t understand?

“It didn’t have to be like this either. If the government had listened to industry, if MBIE had displayed some common sense on timings - we wouldn’t be in this position. Now New Zealand is about to compromise its tourism brand again, and our economy will take yet another hit,” says Mr McFadgen. “It’s all so unnecessary.”

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