Camps wanted in parks

Press, 14 September 1976, Page 12

Camps wanted in parks

Basically, national parks were established to protect them for the public use, but in some cases, park boards appeared to be doing just the opposite, said Cr D. W. Mulholland, at a meeting of the Malvern County Council on Friday. This policy, he said, was causing pressure for developments adjoining national parks. If the parks were for public use, the parks should provide facilities for the public to camp in them. “This sort of pressure for camping facilities is

seen on the perimeters of all national parks and at the same time, presure to extend the parks is stultifying these developments,” he said. The council was considering proposals to develop a camp either at the Cass railway station, or in the vicinity, outside the Arthur’s Pass National Park.

The council’s townplanning adviser, Mr A. P. Todd, said the Railways Department did not seem to be interested in developing the Cass railway bunkhouse and other buildings for camping. The council had been

asked about the possibility of moving camping sites close to the park, said Mr Todd, and there was a need to cater for such groups as tramping clubs and people who were not equipped to camp in the park.

The council should not discourage this somewhere between Cass and Broad Stream, and the applicants should be encouraged to find the best site. The future of the railway electricity supply at Cass was in doubt, said Mr Todd, and the department was negotiating with the Central Canterbury Electric Power Board to take over the reticulation. The council suggested that those interested should find a site, Mr Todd saying there was nothing to stop the council from creating special camping zones. The town-planning committee reported that it had told those concerned that town-planning approval should be asked for before motels were built at Flock Hill sheep station.