A rise in the number of freedom campers is turning the city’s car parks in a “free motor camp in the middle of town”.
Freedom camping is not a new trend, it’s been around for over 20 years and Nelson offers up many sites for tourists to park up and spend the night, including Buxton carpark.
With toilet facilities and free wifi, it’s the perfect after 5pm campsite and many tourists have been making the most of it.
French freedom campers Pauline Abry and Julien Botcazou have been travelling the world together since meeting in Montreal three years ago.
The pair are here for Mahana’s apple picking season and have stayed overnight for free in the Buxton car park for the past week.
“In places like Auckland sometimes it’s $20 per person, which is too expensive, but not here. We love Nelson for this reason, we haven’t found it anywhere else so it’s really cool,” says Julien.
And as for being hassled, the couple say it’s only happened once, “Yesterday, the staff from one of the bars went and knocked on every door and spoke very loudly but that’s the game, we don’t have to pay for this campsite and not everyone likes that.”
Uniquely Nelson manager Simon Duffy says that Nelson’s freedom camping is great for tourism, but does have knock-on effects.
“I’m sitting on the fence, they save money on accommodation and in turn spend money within the industry on activities, but I do know the retailers don’t like it, their thoughts are it just doesn’t look good for Nelson.
“I walked through the Buxton carpark the other day and there must have been 21 vans or cars there, basically it’s a free motor camp in the middle of town.”
Bar owner Debbie Graham, from 623 in the City, says she’s definitely not a fan of freedom campers. “It’s really frustrating having them out there, my biggest gripe is that it doesn’t create a very nice atmosphere for my customers out in the courtyard, and they often leave a mess.
“It’s especially annoying on Saturday mornings, they’ll still be parked there, and in the meantime there are all these people who want to come in and spend money who are trying to find parks.”
