Freedom camping sites in Christchurch to close

Providing conveniently located collection points for rubbish and recyclables by whatever means would certainly help reduce the trashing of the country but still needs to be paid for. The costs of servicing remote facilities is high. Bins designed to accept individual items and to discourage bulk dumping exist. Unfortunately, large bags of household waste are still left besides such facilities. https://www.dropbox.com/s/d8q0rfytc96oizm/P1200018.JPG?dl=0 Visitors to NZ pay GST but enjoy few government services, unlike residents. The tax goes to central government while local communities bear most of the infrastructural costs of catering for the visitors. It is very difficult to avoid GST and the collection costs are low compared to collecting user charges from campers, legal or otherwise.

Thanks @Westland.

camper comfronts cameraman in qtown http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/queenstown-freedom-campers-lash-out-at-cameraman-2016031512#axzz42wfNoIWd

michael hill wants some of NZ to be reserved for the rich only http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/77806483/cap-tourists-and-development-to-keep-arrowtown-special--sir-michael-hill.html

Freeloading freedom campers cost holiday park up to $50,000 and attracted shower thieves. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/77907984/freeloading-freedom-campers-cost-holiday-park-up-to-50000.html

@waynowski "Freeloading freedom campers cost holiday park up to $50,000 and attracted shower thieves. www.stuff.co.nz/national/77907984/freelo..." " This guy is very well spoken, gives a strong argument, puts it very succinctly and without straying from the facts. Very good video.

as he says the no of people hes caught in past years using his showers without paying has gone from 6 a year to 30 so far this year alone and he's sure he's only catching the tip of the iceberg because he cant afford security to monitor whats happening overnight.... so theres an increasing trend of freeloaders causing wider issues than just the immediate camp grounds... its a double insult, they take advantage of free camp grounds then steal showers from the business they are undermining in the first place , they cant even offer to front up and pay for a shower.... that is incredibly miserly behaviour, that seems to be what a lot of these people are, they can pay for the airfare and travelling all over the country but wont even stump up for a shower or twenty five dollars for the camp ground..

There is freedom camping and freeloading. Freedom camping you take care of yourself and do the right thing. Freeloading you take what you can from wherever you can get away with it. I would be surpised if there are many here who havnt freedom camped at least once but steeling shower time I very much doubt we do that. The problem with the motor camps though is that it is now nessecsary to charge $50 for a couple on an unpowered site but at the same time you can often get motel units for not much more so what can you do I know what the wife would prefer

@geeves "The problem with the motor camps though is that it is now nessecsary to charge $50 for a couple on an unpowered site but at the same time you can often get motel units for not much more so what can you do " I strayed in to the Stuff comments on that article (save me) and someone put it well. It just comes down to location. There are plenty of $20 a night camping spots, they just aren't waterfront in great locations. These freeloaders not only want free accommodation, they want a great scenic spot. If you can't afford to stay in the city then you stay just outside the city at the cheaper place (No not everywhere, like Picton, but MOST places). If you can't afford to stay in Christchurch stay 30mins out of town. That's just life. I can't afford an Auckland city apartment, but I don't complain to the council, I have to live further from work. This just further dismantles their arguments and the case for urban freedom camping at all.

depends what your priorities are, if its to camp for free, you'll always find somewhere to go... but if your priority is being in a town that has the facilities or activities you're after then you will pay for somewhere if you cant find anywhere for free, theres a lot of competition for urban places to camp because of freedom campers wanting to have their cake and eat it, you're onto a good thing if you've got a free campsite in town, esp a tourist town. you're really after as much as you can get for nothing. closing down the urban freedom camp spots will split the campers into one of those two groups or they'll use both alternatives as needed... if you see the video of the site in queenstown , you see how much the campers have crammed their vehicles into the available space that isnt even a designated campsite so they can be in town, just a vacant lot