Holiday parks cry foul over competition from councils earning money from freedom camping units
Monday, 18 February 2019
Plans to build a freedom camping unit at Waihi Beach just 400m from the nearest holiday park has locals up in arms and appears to breach Government funding rules.
Last August the Western Bay of Plenty District Council received $340,000 from an $8m tourism infrastructure package designed to prevent a repeat of last summer's problems with messy freedom campers.
But owner of two Top 10 Holiday Parks at Waihi Beach, Ian Smith, is furious that the council, which is also his landlord, will compete with him for business when its KiwiCamp unit opens just 400m from one park and 800m from other.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) website states that projects receiving funding 'must demonstrate that they do not compete with commercial activities in the region' and they were supposed to be completed by December 1 in time for peak season.
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Smith said there had been no consultation over siting of the KiwiCamp which offers pay-as-you-go showers, laundry, and dishwashing facilities in a car park beside the local community centre, and close to the primary school, preschool and RSA.
He estimated campervan guest nights at his parks had dropped by 3000 to 5000 annually as freedom camping increased, and he was unhappy at the council's failure to consider the impact of commercial accommodation, and its attitude to the MBIE funding criteria.
'They just said, they don't apply to us.'
Waihi Residents and Ratepayers Association president Don Fraser said the siting of the KiwiCamp was wrong and it would be an 'eyesore.'
Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber said the council had met with three camp ground owners, 'followed due process,' and had consents for the building.
Asked if that had included public consultation, he said he'd prefer not to comment.
KiwiCamp entrepreneur Chris Wagner said the Waihi Beach unit was due to leave Picton on Monday, and the one delivered to Te Kuiti late last year was doing well.
He said the buildings costing about $200,000 arrive complete. Owners received 80 per cent of the income from user payments and others were on order for Hokitika, Christchurch, Taupo, and National Park.
Charges averaged $15 a night per person, about half that of regular camping grounds, Wagner said.
Top 10 Holiday Parks chief executive David Ovendale said all 50 in his network were suffering to some degree from the rise in freedom camping with some experiencing a decline of up to 70 per cent in campervan guests.
'It's very hard to compete with free.
'The fact that many parks have local councils as their landlords being paid good money for the privilege of running a commercial operation, only to have a free competitor set up across the road by that same landlord is galling to put it mildly.'
Holiday Parks Association chief executive Fergus Brown said when he challenged MBIE over application of the competition clause, he was told that councils had made the decision.
Part of the problem was that they were under a lot of pressure to get facilities up and running before the influx of summer visitors.
'In a perfect world councils should have got together with the holiday park owners and through a consultation process agreed on areas that were appropriate.
MBIE was asked what action it has taken to ensure funding criteria were met, but failed to respond by deadline.
The $8m allocated to 28 local authorities was largely for toilet and camping facilities, education and signage, and employing more staff to enforce camping rules.
Major recipients included West Coast councils ($1.6m), Queenstown Lakes District ($530,000), and the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts ($548,000).