Association President Sharron King welcomed Board members to the latest NZMCA Board meeting, held in Wellington on Saturday, April 11.
NZMCA goes to Ombudsman to protect the regulations’ integrity
Concerned by ‘inaccurate public statements’ on the integrity of the new Self-Containment regulations, the NZMCA has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman.
At the Westland District Council’s December 2025 meeting, Mayor Helen Lash made a series of serious claims during an agenda item on freedom camping, including that green warrant cards issued under the Government’s new self-containment regulations were being ‘duplicated and replicated’.
The Mayor further claimed that a single certification number had appeared on 18 different certified vehicles, and went on to say that she had been in ongoing discussions with Queenstown, Rotorua and Tasman District Councils, with these concerns being jointly escalated to the Minister of Tourism and MBIE.
The Mayor’s comments were prominently reported in the Hokitika Guardian, giving observers at the meeting and readers of the Guardian the clear impression that the new regulations were unreliable and lacked integrity.
Following an LGOIMA request* from the NZMCA, it became evident that no records or evidence existed to support any of the Mayor’s claims, suggesting the public was misled.
NZMCA CEO Bruce Lochore says the Association subsequently asked the Council to correct the misinformation, but they declined, stating the Mayor was merely expressing her ‘personal opinions’.
After discussion at the weekend’s meeting, the Board approved the formal complaint to the Ombudsman regarding both the Mayor’s misleading statements and the Council’s refusal to take any corrective action - including clarifying that the claims are not true.
“We have disputed this evasive response on the basis that the Mayor was speaking to an agenda item on freedom camping and is bound by the Council’s Code of Conduct, which explicitly requires elected members to avoid misleading the public,” said Bruce.
*A LGOIMA (Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act) request is a legal mechanism allowing anyone to request information held by local councils, such as emails, reports, or data.
NZMCA Parks – day parking
The NZMCA’s National Manager, Property & Policy, James Imlach, advised the Board that National Office is receiving an increasing number of enquiries from members, park custodians and Area Committees, regarding members using NZMCA Parks as short-term rest stops or day-parking while visiting the local area - usually without paying the park fee.
Some members believe the Board previously approved this practice, but James said he had found no record of any such decision; although, of course, members are allowed to call in to our parks to drop off rubbish, use the dump station or top up water.
On that basis, the Board has clarified that members must pay the park fee for any short-term rest stops or day-parking in our parks.
Park access project progressing well
After four weeks, the LPR camera trial at Ardmore NZMCA Park is progressing well, James Imlach advised the Board.
“Member feedback to date has been largely positive, and the cameras are consistently capturing licence plate details in both day and night conditions, across varying types of weather, and with different vehicle configurations,” he said.
Given that low-mounted cameras may not be practical at some parks, James also advised that since Easter, the cameras at Ardmore had been relocated to a higher mounting position to check that this setup also captures plate information reliably.
A more detailed report on the trial will be submitted at the June Board meeting. In the meantime, work is also underway to assess the system, infrastructure, and broader resource requirements for a potential national rollout, should the Board agree to proceed once the trial is complete.
Financial performance
On behalf of Treasurer Arthur Keane (who was on leave), CEO Bruce Lochore reported the Association’s surplus of $1,349,651 for the five months to February 28, 2026 was $505,728 above the Board’s deliberately conservative budget expectation given the current economic environment.
That result was based on income being above budget by $119,792 and expenses under budget by $466,218. Tax expense is above budget by $80,281 as a result.
The main income variances driving the above-budget result were: Subscriptions, Joining Fees and NZMCA Parks Income.
Membership growth
Thanks largely again to the impact of the Board’s ‘no joining fees’ offer to direct family members, Association membership continues to grow.
CEO Bruce Lochore advised the Board new memberships for the five months to February 28, 2026 were 4,563 – against a budget of 3,749; and net membership growth after resignations was well ahead of budget at 1,072.
As a result, the number of individual members at February 28, 2026 was 124,992; against a budget expectation of 123,308.
NZMCA Park updates
Kaiaua: Members now have access to potable water via tank rainwater supply. This arrangement, in partnership with the landowner, complies with the new water regulator's requirements.
Welcome Bay: Following the tragic event at Mt Maunganui earlier this year, the NZMCA commissioned geotechnical engineers at Tetra Tech Coffey to undertake a broader risk assessment of the hill slopes surrounding the Welcome Bay NZMCA Park. The assessment confirms several slips occurred on the neighbouring property’s hill in January 2026 and concludes that prolonged, heavy rainfall events like those seen in January can create a potential debris-runout hazard affecting some parts of our Park. As a result, the National Office has asked the engineers to provide a proposal for a more detailed risk assessment to better quantify the likelihood and consequences of such events and to identify practical mitigation measures, including physical works and temporary parking restrictions during heavy rain.
Otorohanga: The park has fully reopened, following further flooding in February.
Ngongotaha: NZ Adventure Railways has a licence to occupy with KiwiRail to operate their railway car business next door to the NZMCA Park. However, it appears that when we purchased the site, part of the adjacent fence line encroached over KiwiRail land. National Office has commissioned a surveyor to clarify the legal boundary and, if necessary, work out a compromise with the licence holder going forward.
Te Araroa: The park has fully reopened, following the January floods.
Piriaka: In late February, a member raised concerns about the stability of a large tree and the hillside above the park. NZTA advised this site is on their geological register and is inspected by a geotechnical engineer who is currently undertaking six-monthly inspections.
Riversdale Beach: We have entered into a purchase agreement on this previously leased site that will be settled 30 days after the issue of new titles. Our surveyor is progressing the subdivision and expects this will take up to three months.
Motueka: After entering into a new Agreement to Lease, we have met with council staff to discuss the scope of works required, along with requirements for a new resource consent.
Weedons: We have engaged engineers to assess the issues with the ROW and provide design solutions that can be costed and completed before winter. We are also working with Penny to improve the storage area layout and to introduce a user-pays system for the dump station. These changes will help reduce the administration of the storage area and ensure we can recover costs when members use the on-site dump station.
Glenorchy: The Council is developing a proposal to raise the bund that protects our site and the surrounding community from lagoon floodwaters by at least one metre. This may involve modifications to the section of bund on our property, and we have asked the Council to look at design options that maintain our current parking capacity and do not compromise space on site.
Disciplinary Committee decisions
As required under the NZMCA bylaws, any penalties imposed by the Disciplinary Committee over each two-month period are to be posted on the Association website and published in the next edition of The Motor Caravanner.
In the latest period (January 31 to April 1, 2026), there were 20 active complaints, the outcomes of which are as follows:
Warnings given by the Complaints Officer, five; Warnings given by National Office, one; Investigated by the Complaints Officer, no further action, six; Total complaints penalised during this period, five; Still under investigation, three.
- The summary of the penalties imposed in this period is:
- Aggression (release of grey water and assault), three-year suspension
- Pet breach (attack by unrestrained dog) expelled
- Bad behaviour (non-payment and dog off lead in NZMCA Park), two-year suspension
- Bad behaviour (use of card by non-member) one year suspension
- Greywater (greywater dumping) one-year suspension
Self-containment progress continues
James Imlach advised the Board that between October 1, 2024 and March 20, 2026, the NZMCA’s self-containment inspectors had certified 35,193 vehicles.
Of these, approximately 93% were issued a green warrant card and 7% a yellow card. However, there are something like 18,000 vehicles on active memberships still to be certified.
If you have not had your vehicle inspected, it’s time to get a move on so you don’t risk missing the June 7, 2026 deadline.
Sharron King
NZMCA President
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