Campers urged to show bright green cards

Press, 26 December 1986, Page 16

Campers urged to show bright green cards

Blenheim reporter

Visitors camping in the Marlborough Sounds and on Kaikoura beaches this summer will have to display bright green cards on their vehicles to prove they have paid to stay at campsites. According to the senior reserve ranger with the Lands and Survey Department in Blenheim, Mr Mike Clare, it is the first time campers have been asked to pay for use of campsites which are maintained by the department.

For many years the department has mown grass and provided toilets at many campsites free. A self registration sys-

tern has been set up at 20 camping areas in the region and the department expects the scheme to raise $BOOO this summer. Mr Clare said it was in line with the Government’s user-pays policy. Adults will be charged $1 a night and the charge for children will be 50c.

Campers will fill out a form which is provided when they arrive at a campsite. They will place this and their fee in the box provided and will keep a green card to prove they have paid.

Mr Clare said staff from the department would make random checks on campsites to make sure people had

paid. The system had been very successful in the United States. It will also be used at some existing camping grounds in the region to give caretakers more time to do other work. Mr Clare thinks the public will react well to the system.

“We have talked to quite a few various groups and they have been quite positive about it,” he said.

The main aim was to make the campsites pay for themselves.

“In some places it is quite costly just to check the campsites and facilities. It’s not going to be a rip-off or a major revenue producer,” Mr Clare said.