Stranded trampers blamed for Lake Coleridge poo pr

new article updating the issue http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/79802189/lake-coleridge-village-in-two-camps-over-trampers-and-their-excrement

Not at all surprising, the anti-freedom camping movement is well known to exaggerate and simply make stuff up to suit their agenda.

Signpost the convenience better There are several bits of the trail like that and really the issue is the day and a half walk between campsites. There needs to be one around this distance or the trail needs to go another way. Of course the question still exists where does one put a campsite with basic facilities and who pays

@Militaris. So if you came off a tramp and felt the urge would you do your business without due concern for where you were? I somehow doubt that. So are your expectations of others lower because they are “freedom campers” or budget trampers? Why does it have to be “anti” or “pro” anything? If some kids crapped in your neighbours back yard would your neighbour become anti-children? No he would most likely see it for what it was and deal with the whys & wherefores. If they continued to do it then he might understandably suspect all children of the same. It’s no different with so called “freedom campers” Aside from The Press article, whose record of poor journalism over the last few years has become well known, freedom campers have a well documented record of littering and crapping nationwide…..but not all of them, and there not all foreigners, but they are in the majority so it’s simple maths. It’s not picking on them. To try and pretend it isn’t a problem that needs to be addressed is just pandering pc nonsense. The TA Trail is poorly conceived in so many ways and wholly unappealing as a single walk. But give it a grand sounding name and they will come. Aside from its lengthy road sections, diversions and mind numbing tedious sections no one seems to have given any real thought to facilities required by predominantly foreign walkers to experience a truly national walkway. A great concept but half baked EDIT: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/funding-boost-councils-struggling-freedom-campers

Strider is right. The trail is not really designed for experienced tramper types. If so, they would do their own traverse, linking up all the cool tramps as one can. The trail as it stands is a missed opportunity and disappointing for anyone beyond beginner level. Some sections are such a mismatch of skill required e.g. Waiau Pass. The organisers need to decide who they are catering for. We meet TAT walkers every year who've finished the trail in Invercargill. They are pretty much novices before they start e.g. they haven't even spent one night out tramping.

the trail was designed for people to see a wide range of new zealand environments, everything from the big city, to small towns, to rural to wilderness. A lot of people don't realise that when they do the trail, they come from an experience of long distance trails that are far more wilderness orientated. and often better quality tracks with better continuity. the question begs, should you advertise a trail as open for walkers, making think its a completed track when in at least four places the track stops and starts up elsewhere miles away and little or no transport alternatives? where there are unbridged dangerous river crossings.. where some tracks are poorly maintained and the route guide isnt accurate enough leading to people getting confused and lost...

Is the trail officially complete yet? They should be broken into reasonable day sections but sometimes its hard because there is nowhere to put a campsite. In this instance its confused further by the existance of a village and lodge although they are not what the hikers expect and want. I wonder if the dam owner con come to the party and set aside some operational land for a camp

well the trail was officially announced as being a useable trail years ago, theres various improvements being made on an ongoing basis but i havent come across any information about what improvements are yet to be done, they are hoping to reduce the amount of road bashing between wanganui and P Nth, but i havent seen any specific plans of where they'd like the track to go and what the chances are of it being rerouted. I've seen nothing about sorting out the sections of track that don't connect up with other sections of the track... theres a limited amount of funding available and most of the track isn't on DOC land. theres suggestions of rerouting the track to castle hill and go south from there to resolve the disconnection at Lake Colleridge. but no undertaking from the Trust as to whether that will be considered.

strider, what makes you think “freedom campers” or budget trampers would have lower standards then you? , if you read the statements from the locals who live in Lake Coleridge village, they have never seen any human excrement left by campers. It is not a problem, but a small group is trying to beat it into one. I have not seen any documented record of freedom camping in NZ let alone their impact, what I have seen is anecdotal reports at best, baseless allegations at worst. More often then not the feedback is from people who have vested interest against freedom camping. So I disagree entirely that there is a well documented record of freedom campers littering and crapping around the country. As far as I know, there has not even been a report of any kind to try and figure out where the majority of littering is coming from, the anecdotal allegations claim freedom campers, but day trippers, picnickers, boy racers are just as capable of committing such acts and they greatly outnumber freedom campers in most cases. The absolute minimum which needs to be done, is to figure out what groups are responsible for the fouling of rest areas and reserves. This has not been done.

It is true that freedom campers are not solely to blame for the rubbish in popular places. A number of times the rubbish left behind has included garden waste and disposable diapers. Its rare to see freedom campers with babies and I cant remember when I last saw a freedom camper gardening. However the abilities of some people which includes campers but also picnickers and locals to clean up after themselves is somewhat questionable