Pooing in bushes, laundry in the lake: Calls for freedom camping ban at popular Wānaka lakeside spot

Wānaka residents are calling for a freedom camping ban at a popular lakeside spot, saying some visitors are defecating in the bushes, doing laundry in the lake and dumping their rubbish.

There are just three spots designated for overnight camping on Beacon Point Road overlooking Lake Wānaka, with the site overwhelmed by campers fighting over them.

Nearby resident Sandy Hazeldine told Checkpoint the site was extremely busy, especially over the summer months.

He said it was a tricky spot to access, and despite the limit, he had just seen four camper vans there.

"It's down several hundred metres of single-lane road. It's a no-exit road, so whatever goes down there has to turn around and come back at some stage, and it's a major walking and cycling track. It's actually part of the the Te Araroa Trail.

"Especially over the summer months, towards the end of the day, any time after three or four o'clock, it's a real battle between the camper vans coming down to see if any of those three spots are still available, and the locals and visitors who are walking, cycling and doing their thing."

Hazeldine said his neighbour once counted over 50 camper vans going in one direction.

The council would sometimes put a sign up at the entrance saying it was full, but that didn't happen very often, he said.

"It doesn't actually stop all the freedom campers going down just to check it out for themselves," Hazeldine said.

"And of course, towards the end of the day, I guess they have to find somewhere to stay, and if it's towards the end of the afternoon, early evening, if they can't park there or it's full, they just sort of go around the corner and park somewhere else. "

Human waste, lake laundry and rubbish dumping

Hazeldine said some of the behaviour he had seen was concerning.

You could lump the whole problem under health and safety, he said.

"I suppose the major health one, and it's fairly unsavoury, is that some people, I'm sure they don't all do it, but some just go and have a crap in the bushes," Hazeldine said.

"And that's not hard to find, especially if you're walking a dog. We've all seen it down there, we've all cleaned a bit up.

"There are four or five homeowners down there that share that track as access. They have rubbish over the fence and people drying their clothing on their fence and all that sort of thing."

He said it was quite common to see people doing laundry in the lake.

Local councils can't use bylaws to completely ban freedom camping across their region, but they can regulate it.

Queenstown Lakes District Council has been hearing submissions on proposed changes to those bylaws.

'Fantastic' alternatives for campers

Hazeldine would like to see the camper vans concentrated in more suitable areas.

"Some years ago, the council opened up an area of wasteland just outside of Wānaka, just on the other side of the Luggate Bridge, and they built some loos there, and that can accommodate probably 50 or 60 vehicles without a problem. That's been operating for quite some time.

"Last summer, we had that as an option and four others in Wānaka that the council had designated for one reason or another, two of those have since dropped off the option list.

"And we're down to the recreation centre, and that can hold quite a few, and that's okay, because it's out of an urban area."

Hazeldine said there were more appropriate alternatives for the camper vans.

"We have three or four camping grounds, and some of those are in absolutely fantastic places, and for a small fee every night, you can go there and have a shower and you can use the loo and you can camp right by the river or right by the lake," he said.

"It's just an odd spot to put three camping sites in an area that was really popular with the public, and it's a walking track mainly, and a biking track, and they have to drive to get there.

"They're not meant to be there before 6pm at night. They had to be gone by 8am in the morning, but that doesn't work. It's just a free-for-all."

Hazeldine said they weren't paying anything and if they wanted to continue to do so, had to be in areas that didn't upset the locals, especially with traffic.

That was one of the biggest issues, he said.