Kia Ora,
Te Kaunihera aa Takiwaa o Waikato are seeking Mana Whenua input for our Freedom Camping Bylaw.
We would love your input into the Bylaw so we know which areas in the Waikato District need protecting, to protect access to areas and to keep people safe. The current (2016) Bylaw can be found on this page under the document library so you can see which areas are currently protected in the maps. You can also view our camping page for more information here.
The Freedom Camping Act 2011 (the Act) sets out the requirements for where freedom camping occurs. It is permissive by default, which means its starting point is to allow freedom camping on all public land. The Act does recognise that some areas may not be suitable for freedom camping and allows controls to be set by councils through a bylaw.
A Bylaw identifies areas where freedom camping is prohibited, restricted and allowed to manage how and where freedom camping can occur and with what criteria.
The Act states that councils can only prohibit or restrict freedom camping in an area if this is necessary to:
- protect the area e.g., to protect areas that are: environmentally sensitive/culturally sensitive.
- protect health and safety to keep freedom campers and other visitors to an area safe
- protect access to the area where the presence of freedom campers would block access or could damage infrastructure.
The Act also requires the Council:
- not to ban (or effectively ban) freedom camping on all the land we manage through our bylaw (blanket bans).
This early engagement Feedback will close on Friday 19 May 2023.
