The Albert Town campground has been scrutinised for its “unsavoury and shanty town” appearance and was discussed at the public forum at the last Queenstown Lakes District Council meeting on July 26.

Jim Cowie, chair of the Albert Town Community Association, informed QLDC of the situation at the campground and explained that it may get worse as people were almost semi-permanent there now.

“It’s not meeting favour with people who go down there to picnic, walk or swim over the summer.”

Jim told councillors that people have been increasingly expressing concerns that the part of Albert Town campground which is not seen from the road, is not being run in accordance with QLDC’s management plan and rules for campgrounds.

He said the camp management rules for reserve parks state that people can camp for a maximum of 28 consecutive days in one place and a maximum number of days per year of 50 are “being well and truly exceeded” by a number of people.  

“The ATCA is simply making QLDC aware of the situation, and that all we are asking for is that, that part of the campground be run in accordance with QLDC camping rules.”

QLDC responded to Jim, stating that they have become aware of at least 20 campers at Albert Town campground who have stayed in excess of that time.

The ATCA has received complaints that some campers set up close to the river were almost obstructing other people from swimming there. Further to this, Jim has been informed of two episodes where people have had verbal altercations with campers who he believed seemed “to adopt a territorial approach, when it is in fact public land”.

“I’ve had two people who have complained to me about verbal altercations with one camper down there, who tried to tell them that they were impinging on this person’s camp space when they wanted to go to one of the two swimming holes.

He said it was also unclear what certain campers are doing for toileting, as some campsite are located so far away from the facilities that they are presumed to have other arrangements. There have been reports of people digging their own toilets.

An increasing number of people are also contacting Jim or other members of the community association concerned about how the place is being allowed to develop as a “shanty town” camp or “an outer suburb slum”, as one person described it.

But Jim said he had sympathy for those seeking camping as a last resort although the land is a public reserve and everyone has a right to go down there. He said it may well be a reflection of the difficulty that some people are having in finding suitable rental accommodation or, worse still, the opportunity to actually buy anything or be able to afford anything in Wanaka.   

A comment from the camp’s manager was not forthcoming before the Wanaka Sun went to print.

Pictured: The Albert Town campsite is both sides of State Highway 6 and has toilets and non-powered site. 

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