WWU: Freedom Camping Bylaw, new website, and an update from Mayor Len
Published on 02 December 2022
Our Council’s new Freedom Camping Bylaw takes effect on Monday 5 December.
Freedom Camping is permitted in most public areas of the Coromandel unless it is prohibited or restricted in our new bylaw, Department of Conservation rules or national legislation.
Our Council’s compliance team will be out seven days a week monitoring the district for compliance with the new bylaw.
The new bylaw is on our website. It applies to areas our Council manages.
If you want to freedom camp in our district:
- Please be a responsible camper and clean up after yourself;
- Use proper toilet facilities such as public toilets and campervan dump stations;
- Look for our signs showing where freedom camping can take place.
In areas managed by our Council, people can only freedom camp:
- In a certified self-contained vehicle (freedom camping is not allowed in tents);
- Between 5pm and 9am for two consecutive nights unless otherwise sign-posted.
Freedom camping is prohibited in 84 areas, most of which are Council reserves or roads. These prohibited areas are listed in Schedule 1 of the bylaw. Freedom camping is also prohibited on other Council reserves under the Reserves Act 1977.
Freedom camping is restricted in 25 other areas, mostly reserves, where freedom camping can only take place within a sign-posted designated place for a maximum number of vehicles. These restricted areas are listed in Schedule 2 of the bylaw.
Our bylaw also contains maps that show the locations of the prohibited and restricted areas grouped by the Community Board area they are in.
We now have improved signage around the district to help visitors identify proper freedom camping locations. We will also have Responsible Camping Ambassadors out and about over summer helping freedom campers make the most of their stay while being good visitors.
This, plus potential future amendments to our new bylaw made necessary by the Self-Contained Motor Vehicles Legislation Bill now before Parliament, are being funded by a grant of $246,186 from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.
Agrisea Project opening a big success
This week Agrisea hosted visitors from the European Union (EU), the Honorable Damien O'Connor, Minister of Agriculture, media and our Councillor Deli Connell at a special event at the Hamilton Fieldays to mark the opening of its exciting new project - growing sea lettuce on the land.
The sea lettuce will soak up nutrients that the freshwater plants are currently unable to absorb, helping to restore the purity of our waterways.
EU visitors were there in a learning capacity, and guests at the event had an amazing opportunity to meet the Agrisea and University of Waikato scientists involved in developing the project, which is being conducted on our Council land beside the Thames Airfield.
The event at Fieldays opened with a blessing, some short speeches and a big thank you to our Council for supporting this ground-breaking project. Afterwards, guests enjoyed seaweed cocktails using dry London-style gin distilled with seaweed for a unique tangy taste.
Thames Ward elected members committed to projects
Making sure projects deliver for Thames was the theme of a day of site visits by Thames-Coromandel District Councillors and the Thames Community Board elected members on Tuesday.
In an action-packed day, the group visited Kōpū Marine and Business Precinct, Thames Airfield, Rhodes Park, Moanataiari and Create the Vibe in Mary Street.
As well as inspecting construction at Kōpū, the group discussed initiatives underway such as Thames and Surrounds Spatial Plan (a blueprint for Thames’ future growth), Thames Sports Partnership Project (looking at options for sports clubs currently based at Rhodes Park, Thames Sub-region Aquatic Facilities Project (developing a new swimming pool facility to replace Centennial Pool), Tōtara Valley infrastructure (to enable housing development) and the Shoreline Management Plan (to protect our communities from coastal erosion and flooding risk).
Elected members all agreed they were keen to seize the opportunity to see projects through to completion and ensure that Thames moved forward without delays.
Big day out for our South Eastern Elected Members
Community Board members from Tairua-Pāuanui and Whangamatā along with our district Councillors joined staff on a tour of the South Eastern Ward’s most notable projects and places on Wednesday as part of their ongoing induction programme.
Valuable insight was gained into current and upcoming projects such as the Tairua Skatepark, Royal Billy Point, Holland Stream, the Whangamatā Boardwalk and more. There was a focus on understanding how to build stronger partnerships with local iwi and communities, as well as an education on the rich Māori and colonial history of the Ward.
Following an intensive induction and the first round of Community Board meetings, this informative tour allowed new and returning elected members to better understand the unique heritage, issues, and wonders of this part of the Coromandel.
Our Council's new website set to launch 8 December
Following an extensive eight-month project, our new Council website will be launching next week.
You’ll still find everything you need at the same web address – tcdc.govt.nz – but now with an improved design, better navigation, a working search function to help you find the information you need, and more accessible content to make working with Council a bit easier. This means some information might be in a different place than usual. Using the search function at the top right corner of any page will usually send you in the right direction.
As with any big website re-platform, there may be some things we have missed. If you can't find the content you need, please let us know on customer.services@tcdc.govt.nz. Our team will help guide you to the correct place, or let our digital team know that something is missing and needs to be updated.
All important functions like consent tracker, maps, and forms remain accessible.
Thanks for your patience while we continue to make tweaks as they arise.
The latest with our Mayor Len
"Our district is gearing up for the holiday season. Anecdotally we are hearing accommodation bookings are up on last year, so that’s certainly good news for our businesses and tourism operators after the challenges of this year.
"The Repco Beach Hop was a huge success. A huge congratulations to Noddy and his Beach Hop team, the marshalls and volunteers for the planning and effort you put into this event and congratulations to all the prize winners during the festival. We hosted an estimated 80,000 people over the week, and I’m sure people would agree it was an amazing spectacle to see those classic and retro vehicles, shined up to perfection. The good news is we get to have another Beach Hop experience on 22-26 March, 2023, which is the usual time for this event.
"I have recently attended a fundraiser in support of the Mercury Bay Cancer Support Trust - CFM radio, Smitty's Bar, the Mercury Bay Informer, and Whiti City Cabs were sponsoring and supporting this event. I met with Phil Butler from Mercury Bay, who went under the clippers for Shave for a Cure. At last count, Phil had raised $8,000 to help with finding a cure for blood cancer. Well done Phil and we hope you’re enjoying your new look.
"I spoke at the Creative Coromandel Mix ’n Mingle event at the GBD in Thames, in support of our many wonderful artists and arts communities. Each of these artists is the owner of a business, and all of their contributions feed back into our communities and our district. Our challenge is to support and grow that potential, and that’s what Creative Coromandel is all about. The future is looking very, very exciting.
"You read in our article above on our Freedom Camping Bylaw about the funding from MBIE to help manage the effects of freedom camping in our district. This is important and helping funding, so it's thanks from me to MBIE for recognising that our district is one of the most popular freedom camping destinations in the country.
"Lastly, I wanted to share with you a fantastic article I read on a collaboration between Auckland Council, Unitec and the building industry, which achieved 91 per cent waste recovery from a single building site. This is such a good template for what we can achieve by working together.
"Kudos to our Council team, the Seagull Centre and Waahi Tukurua, who are also working hard to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to investigate how we can work with the building sector to reduce building waste. And thank you to Richard Warwick and his Master Builders members, who held a very informative session in Whitianga discussing a zero construction waste building project.
"There’s more good news stories to come.
"Keep up the good work everyone."
len.salt@tcdc.govt.nz
Taking a battery-ing
If you live near Tairua or Whangamatā grab your dead batteries and head down to a community site this weekend to get them recycled safely.
The Seagull Centre, together with local community groups supported by our Council’s Waste Minimisation fund, has set up collection points at four locations. All types of batteries are accepted. There’s no charge for the service, but they’re asking for donations to cover safe recycling costs.
Tairua
Coummunity Hall, Tairua, Saturday 3 December 0222, 9am-1pm.
Whangamatā
Whangamatā Sunday Market, Council car park, Sunday 4 December 10am-1pm.
Get your copy of Our Coromandel Magazine 2022-23
The 10th anniversary edition of our Council’s annual magazine is getting some very positive feedback.
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If you don't live in our district or would like to catch up on all the latest news from our Council, copies of Our Coromandel Magazine are available at our Council service centres, District Libraries and information centres.
Inside the cover you'll find what’s been happening at our Council over the last year, what projects have been delivered or are on the go, profiles of local artists, a look at some of our district's outstanding properties and more. You’ll also hear from our new Mayor Len Salt and our new Chief Executive Aileen Lawrie.
This year we'd like your feedback on whether we should continue producing our magazine. Pick up a copy and let us know your thoughts at communicationsteam@tcdc.govt.nz.
Food and drink producers: Register your interest for our Coromandel Food Trail Guide
The 2023 edition of the Coromandel Food Collective’s Food Trail Guide is underway and receiving a fresh new look in preparation for the year ahead.
If you think your homegrown offerings should be on the menu, now’s the time to get in contact with us. It's free to be included so if you make or sell local or artisan produce and products, including beverages, we'd love to hear from you.
Find out more and register your interest here.
Note these dates for LIMs and building and resource consents
The statutory processing clock stops over the Christmas and New Year period for both the Building Act 2004 and the Resource Management Act 1991.
The 20 December to the close of 10 January period is excluded from the 20-working day timeframe. This means that any building or resource consent submitted on or after Tuesday 20 December 2022 will not be processed until Wednesday 11 January 2023 due to the Christmas/New Year break.
You are welcome to contact us if you have concerns about your project or want to discuss ways that we can work better together.
Land Information Memoranda (LIMs)
If you'd like to apply for and receive a LIM before Christmas:
- Applications for standard and Commercial must be in by 5 December 2022.
- Applications for Urgent must be in by 15 December 2022.
Any applications received the after above dates, will be delivered after 11 January 2023.
We'll be resuming our normal service on 11 January 2023.
Need advice? Email customer.services@tcdc.govt.nz or phone us at 07 868 0200.
Hikuai Bridge work complete for holidays
Waka Kotahi’s work has wrapped on the State Highway 25 Hikuai River Bridge deck replacement just in time for the holidays. The bridge is now open to all traffic, with no further night closures required.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said it was great to see the project completed ahead of the busy summer season when traffic would increase significantly in the area. A new sustainably sourced and modular timber deck has been installed and sealed, along with upgraded road safety barriers, and the bridge is now open to all traffic.
The bridge still requires some edge marking which will see short closures of 10 to 15 minutes, and a temporary speed restriction of 30kmh will remain in place until the scaffolding has been removed late next week.
Road users may continue to notice some minor activity around the site as truss strengthening is completed and equipment is removed, however there should be minimal disruption to traffic.
Onepoto Reserve footpath repair
Weather permitting, the repair work on the path in the reserve will start on Monday 5 December, with concrete booked for this date.
The reserve will be closed during this time and signage is already in place.
Line marking at Thames RTS
We will be completing some line marking at the Thames Refuse Transfer Station (RTS) on Monday 5 December (weather dependent).
The line marking will direct all general public using the RTS through the Seagull Centre and commercial trucks will be directed straight through to the RTS. This will enable us to recover, reuse, repurpose or recycle any suitable refuse materials prior to them reaching the RTS for disposal.
This aligns with Council’s focus on waste minimisation and reducing waste to landfill. It'll also save you money if you're not throwing as much material into the refuse pit. Thank you for your patience.
Coromandel RTS closing early on Sunday
Coromandel Refuse Transfer Station will be closing early at 2.30pm on Sunday 4 December. This is due to the road closure in place for Wharf Road for the Coromandel Town Christmas Parade.
Local road works:
Albert Street Bridge, Coromandel Town –Albert St Bridge re-opened to light vehicle traffic late on 30th November and will re-open to all traffic from 5 December.
Following this, the contractor will be completing the temporary footbridge removal, additional rock placement in the stream upstream and downstream of the new bridge, pavement and surfacing tie-ins to the bridge approaches and site reinstatement.
Colville Road retaining wall –The retaining wall project on Colville Rd, 1km east of Waitete Bay Road, has been delayed due to a change of design. We are working through these issues and expect to have it completed before Christmas.
State Highway road works –Waka Kotahi crews are back working across our State Highway 25 and 25A network. Road users should be aware that road conditions can change at any time, whether due to road works or weather. Check out their Forward Works programme (updated weekly) displaying the expected work to be completed during the current financial year (July 1 – June 30 2023).
State Highway speed limit consultation
Waka Kotahi has opened a public consultation on speed limit changes to State Highways, which come under its management.
In the Coromandel, this consultation is limited to State Highway 25A (Kōpū-Hikuai Road) and school zones on State Highways.
Waka Kotahi will consult on the remaining State Highways (25 and 26) in its next speed management plan for 2024-27.
This is a separate consultation from our Council’s survey on speed limits on Council-controlled local roads which took place in August and September. Waka Kotahi's consultation closes at 5pm on Monday 12 December.
Have your say here.
What's on in the Coromandel?
Come and join in the fun of our district's annual Santa and Christmas Parades in Thames, Whitianga, Whangamatā and Coromandel Town. If you're looking for festive gifts, check out the Coromandel Christmas Market this Sunday 4 December and the Whangamatā Festival Markets from 26-27 December.
Find out more about these and other upcoming events at tcdc.govt.nz/whatson.
Upcoming meetings
Our Council will be holding its last ordinary meeting of the year on Tuesday 13 December.
Keep an eye on our meetings page and we'll upload the agenda and minutes closer to the time.
Have your say
We'd like to hear your feedback on the Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy.
Submissions are open until 12 December 2022, so head online to make your submission by clicking on the graphic below, or pick up a form at one of our Council service centres.
Work with us
Click here to view our job vacancies.