Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Ūpokorehe kaitiaki worried that freedom campers are pillaging their pipi beds

Whakaata Māori
19 Jan, 2023 06:40 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Concerned locals have started a petition preventing freedom campers from their area. Photo / Whakaata Māori

Concerned locals have started a petition preventing freedom campers from their area. Photo / Whakaata Māori

Residents of Waiotahe, a small Bay of Plenty town just outside Ōpōtiki, are worried about the influx of holiday campers this summer because so many are taking kaimoana from Te Ahiaua Reserve, also known as the Pipi Beds at Waiotahe.

They are concerned both about visitors attending the Rhythm and Vines Festival as well as the campers.

Ūpokorehe kaitiaki Sonia Nikora Kohiti and Jackie Biddle have started a petition, which already has 1240 signatures and feedback, to stop campers from taking all the kaimoana (seafood) out of the pipi beds. The reserve is a no-camp site but freedom campers are allowed as long as they have a certified self-contained vehicle to stay overnight on land managed by local councils.

“We aim to protect our resources,” Bibble says.

A hui was held with Ūpokorehe kaumatua and whānau to discuss matters before taking their petition to the Ōpōtiki District Council.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
A picture of the estuary. Photo / Supplied
A picture of the estuary. Photo / Supplied

Nikora Kohiti posted a status on Facebook addressing the petition saying, “The petition is for no camping at all, fishing and shellfish, to allow the reserve to replenish. The area is not being monitored 24/7 and how can we be certain there is no inappropriate human and animal waste, and rubbish that would affect the kaimoana in the estuary? The facilities have no showers and not enough toilets for their stay. "

So where are these campers bathing?

“Hopefully, they didn’t bathe in the bed.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Rural community 'in shock' as industrial park greenlit

Premium
Bay of Plenty Times

'Stay on your side of the Bombays': Rotorua developer's swipe at Auckland firms

Premium
Bay of Plenty Times

More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Rural community 'in shock' as industrial park greenlit
Bay of Plenty Times

Rural community 'in shock' as industrial park greenlit

It will add up to 125 vehicle movements an hour on local roads.

16 Jul 09:04 PM
Premium
Premium
'Stay on your side of the Bombays': Rotorua developer's swipe at Auckland firms
Bay of Plenty Times

'Stay on your side of the Bombays': Rotorua developer's swipe at Auckland firms

16 Jul 09:03 PM
Premium
Premium
More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'
Bay of Plenty Times

More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'

16 Jul 08:54 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP