Akaroa locals demand poo patrol to battle waste left by freedom campers

Monday, 22 January 2018

Piles of toilet paper and faeces at the entrance to Akaroa's Garden of Tane have local residents calling for daily 'poo patrols' to prevent travellers creating a public health hazard.

Akaroa residents fed up with freedom campers dotting the town with piles of faeces and toilet paper have regularly sent the Christchurch City Council photographic evidence of visitors' anti social toilet habits and are demanding better enforcement.

Akaroa Yacht Club commodore and semi-retired GP Dr Howard Wilson said the faeces presented a significant health hazard and the town needed someone to police freedom camping 24/7 over summer.

Freedom campers in small vans are outstaying their welcome in Akaroa and residents want better enforcement of camping bylaws.

'If you pee or poo on the soil or grass it creates quite a fertile breeding place for viruses, bacteria or pathogens.

'In the sort of areas we have seen evidence of that in Akaroa, children are playing nearby so they may touch the grass or soil with their hands, and they are often playing barefoot. It not only infects them, but they can transmit it to other people.'

Freedom campers wash dishes and themselves at a drinking fountain in the Akaroa recreation area.

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Wilson said people caught urinating or defecating in a public place could be prosecuted under the Summary Offences Act, but there was a defence if they could prove they had reasonable grounds to believe they would not be observed.

He lead a deputation to the Banks Peninsula Community Board late last year to complain about the negative impact of freedom camping and plans a repeat visit next month.

Resident Victoria Andrews said many of the freedom campers who continued to 'invade' Akaroa did not want to use their on board porta-potties and did not bother to use public toilet facilities.

'Instead they head for the bushes or open public spaces.'

Andrews said campers also washed themselves, their dishes and their clothes at a public water fountain.

Graeme Curry lives beside the Akaroa Heritage Park in Long Bay Rd and is fed up with campers' unhygienic behaviour.

'Our paddock and the neighbours' paddock are used as toilets so much, we're just sick of it. When I got onto one young guy he said 'your sheep do it out there'.'

Andrews said if the council issued more $200 fines for breaches of the camping bylaw, word would soon spread via social media, but travellers knew they could get away with camping illegally if they packed up early enough.

She spoke to two enforcement officers last week who arrived at the recreation area about 11am after a 90-minute drive from the city, which was well after freedom campers had moved on.

Council head of regulatory compliance Tracey Weston said since the beginning of December two officers had visited Akaroa daily Monday to Friday and had issued 19 infringement notices.

'Compliance officers' visits are timed appropriately to enable monitoring when breaches are most likely to be occurring . . . we cannot disclose the specific timing of our visits as it could impede enforcement action occurring.'

Over the past month, the council had logged one complaint about freedom camping in Akaroa through its customer service request system, and 16 for the rest of the city.

Andrews said since early December, she had sent the council 10 complaints and 85 photographs recording freedom camping problems.

She had received 'zero response' other than a request for the street addresses of Children's Bay and the recreation ground.

Christchurch deputy mayor and Banks Peninsula ward councillor Andrew Turner said he was attempting to find out what monitoring and enforcement action occurred over the holiday period and what was planned in future.

If the council was not logging complaints properly and was 'therefore not responding to them as effectively as we might, then we need to sort that out'.

Asked if it would be more efficient to have a local person doing the monitoring in Akaroa instead of sending staff from Christchurch, Turner said it might be something they could consider.

'The important thing is that we have the right people with the right capabilities there at the right time.'

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