A responsible freedom camping advocating group, is again calling for an inquiry into New Zealand’s Freedom Camping situation after Minister Maureen Pughs members bill was pulled from the ballot box yesterday, and the United Nations report into Homelessness in NZ was released overnight.
 

Responsible Campers Association said the bill highlights the ongoing issues around assumptions that blame freedom campers for every bit of litter and pooh on the roadside, when the reality is, as a group, freedom campers are the least likely to engage in irresponsible behaviour due to having facilities onboard to mange waste. The majority of campers have that ability, even if not certified to the voluntary NZS of self containment. The association was formed out of concern that Councils were using, often non-compliant, bylaws against the homeless in cars.

Spokesman for the group Bob Osborne, said “many freedom campers are the ones often seen picking up the rubbish left behind by others, our own surveys identified most litterers as locals at 67% (2/3rds) with about 22% being unidentified.

What we have seen constantly this year, is statements made MP’s and other officials, blaming freedom campers that are based solely on assumptions - for example Minister Nash stated on RNZ on 18th November 2020 that "We get all these vans driving round at the moment that are not self-contained, so if the driver or the passenger wants to go to the toilet - we all know examples of this - they pull over to the side of the road and they shit in our waterways". Unfortunately for the Ministers credibility, that applies to every traveler, not just Freedom Campers. Minister Maureen Pugh’s bill makes the same sort of assumptions as she stated on National Radio this morning”

Meantime we have organizations apparently creating problems so they can look good when they provide solutions, unfortunately in many cases those solutions are also failing to provide the expected results and therefore damaging the social license of freedom camping.

In some cases we have timelines going back 10 years that demonstrate failures upon failures, as more solutions are provided to fix the previous failed solutions. which then themselves fail.

A case in point, is the failed amendments to the self containment standard in 2017 - which in itself was called for based on assumptions that people in smaller vehicles were not using their toilets as often as those in larger RVs.The assumption was that as these people were not using their toilets as often as those in larger RV and were therefore using roadsides for a toilet - with no consideration given to the fact that they were switched on to more practical solutions, -more likely to use public facilities, or that as the younger generation were more often smaller RV users, did not have the health or dietary concerns of the often older generation, who use larger RV’s. In 2019 that same organization promoted in submissions to Queenstown Lakes District Council that Freedom Camping be restricted to RV’s with ‘fitted’ toilets!

It is not the Freedom Camping Act seen as the problem, in fact that Act is seen as the protector of the right to freedom camp, - but rather Councils, often incorrect, interpretation of the legislation- or attempts to enact restrictions not compliant with our bill of rights legislation.

Responsible Campers Association are therefore repeating calls for an Government inquiry into Freedom Camping in New Zealand - an issue last raised in their submissions to Minister Nashs’ assumption’ based proposals, which included concerns around homeless as affected by Council Bylaws,- an issue also raised in the United Nations report.

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