Editorial: The right attitude goes a long way

English couple Dave and Viv Perry were fined for camping illegally in Napier this week. Photo/Supplied

A few years back I was fast asleep with my three daughters in a caravan at a freedom camping spot in Haumoana.

At 10pm a burly official banged at the door hollering about Hastings District Council's camping bylaws.

Apparently we needed to be certified self-contained. Given there were working toilets on site, the rule surprised me.

However, both ignorant and wrong, I accepted we were illegally camped.

The security chap then ordered we move on immediately. I politely refused, saying it was late, my young girls were asleep and we would leave chastised at dawn.

Softening, he warned me to be gone no later than 8am.

It's called discretion.

One could argue this would have been a better outcome than the $200 fine handed to Lions' fan Dave Perry for camping illegally at Perfume Point this week.

Let's remember the Napier City Council uses its discretion to accommodate scores of additional campervans during the Art Deco soirée. Why not the same latitude for migratory Lions fans spending up a storm in its city?

The headline travelled well. Ironically, Napier's image was tarnished in an attempt to maintain its waterfront image.

In Haumoana I was fortunate to talk my way out of a deserved fine. But here's the thing - Napier's council warden didn't have the luxury of a fair dealing. He had little option but to square off with a belligerent traveller over-packed with entitlement issues.

Mr Perry decided the clearly posted rules weren't for him; his ensuing arrogance and argument in defence mitigated nothing.

In fact the Hampshire native's only success was in shoring up a few Brit-abroad stereotypes.