Around 35 local residents have given a firm “no” to allowing freedom camping at the Edgecumbe Domain.

The group made their feelings clear in their submissions to Whakatāne District Council’s proposed Freedom Camping Bylaw

The views were received at a meeting of the council’s living together committee last week, where Helen Morris spoke on behalf of Edgecumbe Development and Improvement Team (Edit).

The council had proposed creating three freedom camping parking spaces at the reserve, where it had installed a new dump station about a month ago.

"If it's good enough to want to keep them away from Whakatāne and Ōhope, don't palm them off to smaller towns in the Whakatāne district," the Edit submission said.

Mrs Morris said there could be up to 10 vehicles parked there during the week.

She said there was already a problem with children lifting the lid on the dump site, thereby exposing themselves to possible infections and diseases, drinking from the tap that provides non-potable water and leaving taps on.

“Who would put a dump station right where children walk to reach the skatepark, unsupervised?” she asked.

She also felt it was too close to the Edgecumbe Playcentre, displayed no hazard signs and exposed children to people “sorting out their personal hygene needs.

“It is a play area for local community and visiting sports teams and parking for the Edgecumbe Playcentre.”

She said the majority of the Edgecumbe community were against freedom camping in the domain and wanted the dump station removed. They say, although the council notified some of the residents along College Road about the dump station with a letter-box drop, many were not told about it.

Matatā caravanner Rod Meharry told Local Democracy Reporting the Edgecumbe dump station was mainly for the benefit of people camping at the two campgrounds at Matatā. Because Matatā did not have a sewerage system, it was not possible to have one there.

“The residents should think about how much the businesses in Edgecumbe benefit from the campers doing their shopping there instead of heading into Whakatāne.

After a lengthy debate, during which several councillors indicated their wish to remove the dump site from Edgecumbe Domain, staff were given changes to the Freedom Camping Bylaw which will return to a full council meeting on October 17 for adoption.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.