Mr Brownless said there was a balance between catering for tourists and not allowing them to take advantage.
"Ninety per cent of freedom campers are fine."
The bylaw allowed a stricter approach to enforcement, including an instant fine of $200, and the council has set up a working party of councillors Max Mason, Larry Baldock and Leanne Brown.
A resident who lives above Kulim Park, Karen Greenough, said the freedom camping rules on the notice at the entrance to the park were not adhered to. It stipulated that no more than five self-contained camper vans were allowed per night, but instead they were seeing up to 15 parked up.
Her main issue was not with self-contained mobile homes because they looked after themselves and were tidy. What made her ''really cranky'' were seeing people who pitched tents or slept in cars urinating in the trees at night.
''There are so many this summer who have abused the rules. My main grouch is with people in tents....they flout the rules because there is no one there to follow up.''
Mr Brownless said the working party would look into initiatives like setting aside specific areas for freedom campers as a way of controlling numbers in reserves where problems were occurring. The areas would make enforcement easier because at the moment freedom campers could park anywhere and no one knew who was there first.
He said the education approach had worked for a while but the sheer rise in numbers meant the council could not be as casual as it used to be. "Enforcement needs to be stepped up. I don't want our parks turned into camping grounds and I don't want the problem to drag on."
Some of the discussion at the workshop centred on the rule that mobile homes had to be certified, which was assumed to be a proper on-board toilet and brown water waste storage system.
But Mr Brown explained how there were different types of freedom campers. Some smaller vans were "crudely" certified so that the toilets were not in cubicles but were portable toilets that could be tucked away, like under a bed.
"A number of smaller vehicles have self-contained stickers but were quite crude."
She said Standards New Zealand was reviewing the standard for a self contained vehicle, with a decision due out in June.
Other possible measures included improving signage and deputising security guards responsible for closing the gates to city parks at night so they could enforce the bylaw.
New Zealand Motor Caravan Association chief executive Bruce Lochore said he applauded the softly-softly approach but had no objection to the council stepping up the management of its bylaw. ''We applaud it.''
