Following on from the release of their Responsible Campers Accreditation program which was launched in February,
Responsible Campers Association Incorporated today announced the release of their publication “Glovebox Guide to Freedom
Camping in New Zealand”.
The publication which has been several months in developing and printing is about to be mailed out to all persons who
have become Accredited Responsible Campers.
Spokesperson for the group, Mr Bob Osborne said “The guide has come about as a result of discussions with Councils and
other Stakeholders. We believe it is the first time any such guide has been developed for use in New Zealand.
Responsible Campers Association Inc are pleased to be the one at the forefront of making these changes in New Zealand’s
freedom camping arena. Our Accredited Campers program launched in February has exceeded our wildest expectations and
gained great reviews from many stakeholders ie;
Department of Conservation “can clearly see the amount of effort and research that has gone into producing the web site and the level of detail is
impressive”,
while Kelvin Davis as Minister of Tourism said “I encourage you to continue to work with those Councils to progress your program and help better manage camping in their
regions”.
I believe we have a major advantage in developing solutions for freedom camping due to having direct contact with many
Councils and other Stakeholders. We listen, we communicate, and we together find solutions. Our Accreditation program
for example, provides solutions for no less than 14 problems raised by Councils in New Zealand. These problems are
nothing new and some of the solutions were so simple a preschool child could have found them. One is left wondering just
what motivation there is by some organizations to find real evidence based solutions. We are aware a lot of false
propaganda is published about Freedom Camping in New Zealand, mostly with no or very little creditable evidence”.
One claim made by the group is that they place the emphasis on the persons camping rather than the outdated method used
of certifying the self containment provisions of the camping vehicle.
Mr Bob Osborne says “certifying self containment of the camper-van is akin to issuing driver licenses to the vehicles
rather than the driver, its outdated and really of little or no value. We have done self containment certification for
over 20 years and any benefit arising from that is very difficult to find. It provides zero education, is often the
subject of fraudulent type transactions and even the issuing authorities themselves are not able to comply with the
actual standards.The self containment standard itself is contradictory and without a regulatory body to over see it.
Meantime any person or organization can legally set themselves up as a issuing authority and issue certificates whether
the inspected Camper vehicles comply or not - we have found many that aren’t. One thing is certain, the majority of
Responsible Freedom Campers are looking for change to put the onus on the people not the mode. Our research and the
uptake of the accreditation program with its education, would suggest the time is ripe for change now”.
It is considered by many stakeholders that the way forward will be facilities blocks as provided by companies like
KiwiCamp who have also developed the payment method to pay for the use of those facilities, and educational
accreditation programs such as that Responsible Campers Association provides.
To get your own copy of the “Glovebox Guide to Freedom Camping in New Zealand” all you need to do is become an
Accredited Responsible Camper atwww.accreditedcampernz.com
ends