Freedom camping notices on DOC land: Hawkes Bay

What the notices mean in Hawkes Bay

Restricted areas in the Hawkes Bay district all follow one pattern. Of 16 current DOC notices, 6 restrict freedom camping and every one of those 6 carries the same pair of conditions: self-contained vehicles only, and no more than 4 nights in a calendar month. The other 10 prohibit it.

The restricted areas are Balls Clearing Roadend Carpark, Elsthorpe Carpark, Mohi Bush Picnic Area, Shine Falls Roadend Amenity Area, Tangoio Falls and White Pine Bush Picnic Area. In practice you need a certified self-contained vehicle to stay at any of them, and a tent or an uncertified van is not allowed. Mohi Bush Picnic Area is the biggest at 4 ha of the 5.9 ha that is restricted.

Prohibited areas cover 21.2 ha. Cape Kidnappers Track Amenity Area is the largest single notice area at 11.4 ha. The list also takes in Kuripapango Amenity Area (3 ha), Lake Tutira Amenity Area, Lake Tutira Boat Ramp Amenity Area, Opouahi Scenic Reserve, Pohokura Roadend Carpark, Lotkow Amenity Area and two urban sites: Humber Street, Ahuriri Estuary, Napier and Otatara Pa, Taradale. No freedom camping is allowed at any of these.

Nearly the whole set dates from 1 December 2012, when 15 of the current notices were made. The exception is Monckton Carpark, prohibited by notice 297 on 13 November 2021. Notice numbers run from 23 to 297, the notices cover 27.1 ha on 14 distinct conservation land parcels, and 3 older notices for the district are historic and no longer current.

Keep in mind that these are DOC notices for conservation land, not council bylaws. Council reserves, roadsides and car parks are covered by the council's own freedom camping rules instead: the Napier City Council freedom camping rules around Napier and Taradale, the Hastings District Council freedom camping rules in Hastings District, where most of the listed areas lie, and the Central Hawke's Bay District Council freedom camping rules further south around Elsthorpe.