Council has seriously erred if it's concluded freedom campers aren't "genuine" tourists. Is the Art Deco City so flush with visitor numbers it now has the luxury of adopting a discriminatory and tiered approach to tourism?
Surely this is counter-intuitive.
The move will hardly, despite assurances, shore up the local accommodation industry. Freedom campers opt for zero-fees due to lack of funds - not due to a phobia of motels.
High rollers they're not, but does anyone really know if they spend less than the boat people?
If they go, I'll miss them. Their presence enriches this area. I enjoy watching them heat something over a gas stove, catching a whiff of just-heated noodles and the mystery of foreign tongues. They're sharing something with us. Surely this is a more charitable reading of their presence. Lamenting the socks drying atop side mirrors is simply churlish.
I'd argue their intrepid, soulful, ascetic form of travel adds more to this city than the cruise ship legions (the majority of which Bob Jones noted were "retired Wollongong plumbers") making a beeline for Starbucks on Emmerson St.
Thankfully, no commercial jets can land at Hawke's Bay Airport. Council would have its work cut out shielding business-class fliers from the embarrassment of economy.
Besides, if we're talking offensive gateways, there's an acrid one in Awatoto that warrants more immediate mitigation.
Let's not kid ourselves. Is this Marine Parade amenity as rarefied as its councillors suggest? Perhaps campers won't complain. They're tired of sleepless nights due to the parade's incessant trucks. More importantly, they're tired of having their vehicles and belongings ripped off by the very populace that now deems them repugnant.
Now that's a serious shot of irony.
