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Freedom Camping Act 2011

Where freedom camping permitted - Freedom camping on conservation land

17: Notices restricting or prohibiting freedom camping on conservation land

You could also call this:

“Rules for camping on nature areas: Where you can camp and what to do”

The Director-General can make rules about freedom camping on conservation land. They can do this by publishing a notice that says where you can and can’t freedom camp, and what rules you need to follow.

Before making these rules, the Director-General needs to make sure they don’t go against any conservation laws or the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. They also need to talk to the local Conservation Board first.

When the Director-General makes these rules, they need to clearly describe where the land is, using a map or explaining its location. They also need to say if freedom camping is not allowed or if there are special rules to follow. The notice must say when the rules start.

If the notice has both a map and a written description of the land, and they don’t match, the written description is the one to follow.

These notices are a type of law called secondary legislation. They start working on the date given in the notice, not when they’re officially published.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3742870.

Topics:
Environment and resources > Conservation
Housing and property > Land use
Government and voting > Local councils
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16: Freedom camping restriction and prohibition signs, or

“Signs that used to show where you can't freedom camp are no longer part of the law”

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18: Public notification of notices restricting or prohibiting freedom camping on conservation land, or

“Telling everyone about rules for camping on nature land”

Part 2 Where freedom camping permitted
Freedom camping on conservation land

17Notices restricting or prohibiting freedom camping on conservation land

  1. The Director-General may, by notice published in accordance with subsection (5) and section 18,—

  2. define conservation land where freedom camping is restricted and the restrictions that apply to freedom camping on that land:
    1. define conservation land where freedom camping is prohibited.

      1. A notice may be published under subsection (1) only if—

      2. the Director-General is satisfied that the notice is not inconsistent with—
        1. the purpose of any conservation Act relevant to the land; or
          1. any general policy, management strategy, or management plan made under a conservation Act relevant to the land; or
            1. the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990; and
            2. the Director-General has first consulted the Conservation Board established under section 6L of the Conservation Act 1987 that has jurisdiction over the conservation land to which the notice relates.

              1. A notice must—

              2. define the conservation land by a map or a description of its locality (other than just its legal description) or both; and
                1. specify whether freedom camping is restricted or prohibited on the land and, if applicable, the restrictions that apply; and
                  1. state the date on which the notice comes into force.

                    1. However, where a notice contains both a map and a description and there is an inconsistency between the map and the description, the description prevails.

                    2. A notice under this section—

                    3. is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements); but
                      1. despite section 26 of that Act, commences in accordance with section 18(2)(b).

                        Notes
                        • Section 17 heading: replaced, on , by section 15 of the Self-contained Motor Vehicles Legislation Act 2023 (2023 No 24).
                        • Section 17(1): amended, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
                        • Section 17(5): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).