DoC may ease rules for Piha campers

Fiona Anderson says without the annual rental from the caravans, the Piha Domain Camp is not worth running. Picture / Dean Purcell

About 20 families who face eviction from a Piha campground next year may have gained a reprieve.

The Department of Conservation is considering a relaxation of its rules on semi-permanent camping, which could affect the Piha campers and long-term residents at other popular sites.

Under the present rules Piha Domain Camp would have to remove half of its 40 semi-permanent caravans, many belonging to families who have been holidaying at the popular west coast surf beach for generations.

The 20 which would be allowed to remain would have to be stripped of fixed awnings and decks and have their wheels put back on.

That plan was a compromise after Waitakere City Council went in to bat for the campers, gaining a reprieve for some.

But it left long-term residents still furious. "I'm just gutted," said camper Sally Seabright. "I had no idea this was on the cards and now I not only have to remove my awning, I have to pay for a permit to do it."

Her "awning" acts as a second bedroom and she also has a deck with a roof which will have to go.

Fiona Anderson, who leases the Piha Domain Camp, threatened to quit her lease over the issue. She said without the annual rental from the caravans, the camp was not worth running.

With half the caravans gone, the rest would have to pay double their rent to make up the income shortfall, from around $1500 a year up to $3000.

"These are ordinary working people who in some cases saved long and hard to buy their caravan and they will not be able to afford it," she said.

But the Department of Conservation, which administers the act, is considering relaxing the rules covering camping ground caravans with semi-permanent structures.

It has written a policy paper, which will be considered by Conservation Minister Chris Carter, outlining how the Reserves Act rules on semi-permanent campers could be relaxed to allow long-term camping on public reserve and DoC land.

The review of the act comes as DoC is considering ways to open its own land up to camping because of the decline in waterfront camping sites since private operators are finding it more lucrative to sell to developers than keep running the businesses.

Mr Carter said last week the department was looking at options to allow commercial operators to set up on DoC land.

Camping ground operator Richard Gunson of Camp Waipu Cove in Northland said he believed the re-think was sparked by complaints at his own camp.

He believed the policy paper had been completed last December but DoC was keeping it "secret".

"Our case was the one that started it all," Mr Gunson said.

"There are heaps of semi-permanent caravans on campsites all around the country and if DoC now wants to open up its own land for commercial operators, then without guaranteed income from long-term campers it's not going to be economically viable," he said.

Auckland DoC spokesman Warwick Murray said Waitakere City might be jumping the gun if it evicted some of the caravans. "We are not going to insist on people moving until such time as we get direction from the minister," he said.

Any link between the intention to open up DoC land to commercial operators and the Reserves Act review was coincidental, he said.

A spokesman for Waitakere City, Benedict Collins, said the council had had no formal notification from DoC about changes to the act and was proceeding with removal of the caravans by June next year.


WHAT IT'S ABOUT

* All public reserve land is administered by the Department of Conservation according to the Reserves Act.

* The act says caravans and buses cannot become permanent fixtures in camping grounds on public reserves.

* Fixtures such as wooden awnings, decks and trellises are a breach of the act.