NZ to ban vans without toilets

We have toured NZ in a motorhome and seen some of the antics that people got upto in self build Van's and cars.? Yes estate cars...I can understand the problem local people have with these kind of conversions when they see (dubious grey) waste water running down roads from underneath them ... not quiet sure what they did with black waste, well I am but don't want to label all the same...
The self contained sticker on the rear along with a reg disc in the windscreen is easy to replicate and very hard for the council to check... I know this first hand as ours had a green sticker on the rear instead of blue, we got a fine and spent a morning in Napier council offices getting it sorted.. apparently older ones were green but still valid... just no one told the ticket guy. Now they must be blue.
There are loads of very cheap campsites in NZ .
 
I can see something similar happening here.
But I am utterly against this.
Punishing the many for the actions of the few is completely wrong.
But it also brings into the question of barriers we use here.
Barriers prevent motorhomes from entry, whilst allowing these smaller campers without toilets through.
But in my honest opinion, this will be a sad day when a country like New Zealand, with such a tiny population does this.
Punishing severely those who behave poorly, would have been preferable.
But thats just my views.
 
r4dent said:
NZ today, UK tomorrow?

uk.yahoo.com

Bogged: the toilet laws that could spell end of the road for New Zealand’s van lifers

Travellers who enjoy the simple freedoms of their humble van face a major roadblock in the form of legislation requiring a fully plumbed-in toilet
uk.yahoo.com uk.yahoo.com
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The vast majority of vans in britain don't have toilets.

Now if by "vans", you mean CAMPERVANS (or MOTORHOMES), then maybe there could be a regulation that to be a Campervan or Motorhome (i.e. a "Motor Caravan"), a requirement for an on-board toilet becomes a requirement? But considering the large majority of Reclassification requestions are turned down anyway for sprurious reasons, having another additional thing to get turned down for would be pretty irrelevant.

Maybe reclassification is much easier in NZ and this change would actually make a difference in what was and was not reclassified, but in the UK currently it would make absolutely no difference whatsoever.
 
As mark rightly pointed out on the other thread on freedom camping in New Zealand what about tents. I can guarantee that the amount of dog waste will be at least one hundred times greater than human waste. Yet to date I have not seen signs forbidding dogs in such locations. And if the government or a local authority tried to implement such a law, there would be a public outcry. We used to WC on the banks of loch Leven at Kinross until they erected their no overnight parking signs. The grass was full of dogs £$%^, even the kiddies playground had some. But they stopped us from spending a night there, job done. o_O :unsure:
 
trevskoda said:
All veh classed as a motorcaravan should have a toilet, vans classed as a van with windows id give a mis but force them to use proper public or campsite toilets, if caught dumping then a £1000 fin, after all would you go outside your home and sh-t on the verge.
Click to expand...
It should be made easy to distinguish a fully self contained motorcaravan ,
Just needs the dvla to list it correctly. Everyone can check a reg number on their site in the UK.
 
A Toilet has never been a requirement for a Motor Caravan in the UK.

And I don't see why it should really as if someone uses campsites, they will often only use the camp facilities (there are a surprising large number of people with full on-board facilities who never ever use them).

Why anyone thinks legislating that a campervan must have a toilet will make any difference at all to those people who don't care I don't know? If it WERE a requirement AND campsite owners would only allow vans with toilets, it would be a joke as they provide facilities to those without toilets (e.g. tents) anyway, and there is nobody checking people who wildcamp have ANYTHING in their vans, let alone specific items.

You would end up with a situation where a camper WITHOUT toilet facilities would be forced to wildcamp even though they might want to specifically go to a campsite for those facilities, and then those who want to do the right thing might end up with no alternatives!! Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!
 
Does New Zealand have a large network of motorhome service aires France style?

Or is it more U.K. like?

I’m guessing the public loos in more isolated parts of NZ are sceptic tank based so green tank additives would need to be used. After all, on board loo or not, black waste ultimately has to be disposed of.

I’m never going there but clearly this could give the U.K. government ideas.

A network of service points or a law permitting free access or a maximum fee access of say £3 to campsite service points would be a very good start.

After all the Spanish have a law by which all bars have to give unhindered access to their loos for all so why not give motorhome and camper van users free access to campsite service points as part of the licensing conditions?
 
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Moped said:
Does New Zealand have a large network of motorhome service aires France style?

Or is it more U.K. like?

I’m guessing the public loos in more isolated parts of NZ are sceptic tank based so green tank additives would need to be used. After all, on board loo or not, black waste ultimately has to be disposed of.

I’m never going there but clearly this could give the U.K. government ideas.

A network of service points or a law permitting free access or a maximum fee access of say £3 to campsite service points would be a very good start.

After all the Spanish have a law by which all bars have to give unhindered access to their loos for all so why not give motorhome and camper van users free access to campsite service points as part of the licensing conditions?
Click to expand...
Didn't know that about Spanish bars . As an ex publican it was infuriating when people marched past you straight to the toilets without a do you mind/hello is it alright?
Never a problem when people asked politely.
Campsites being obliged to provide , for a fee , facilities is a great idea .
p.s. plea from an OCD pedant .
SEPTIC tank
 
trevskoda said:
All veh classed as a motorcaravan should have a toilet, vans classed as a van with windows id give a mis but force them to use proper public or campsite toilets, if caught dumping then a £1000 fin, after all would you go outside your home and sh-t on the verge.
Click to expand...
Seeing as you like the use of force, how about we force people not to do DIY MH's or vans with windows, and leave it up to the big firms to certificate all vehicles.
How do you like those apples :p
 
In ALL the years I've stayed away in a van ....
AND Long before any bandwagon jumping yoghurt weaving types even dreamt of the word "van life" etc (I feel a bit of vomit in my throat everytime I hear that word )
And started plastering videos all over the net of them living their best lives etc

I parked up in deserted places in the back of my work van and either used public toilets where available or a bucket to pee in or a bag in a bucket for solids or in extremis a hole in the ground well away from anything or anyone ...

I never dumped waste in streams or verges etc etc ...

We don't need more legislation in terms of what folks can have in their vans ....where does that stop ?
Some would argue a ban on folks doing their own electrics/diesel heaters is needed more ....

What's needed IMHO is more education AND tougher penalties ENFORCED for those that behave in an antisocial manner .
 
mistericeman said:
In ALL the years I've stayed away in a van ....
AND Long before any bandwagon jumping yoghurt weaving types even dreamt of the word "van life" etc (I feel a bit of vomit in my throat everytime I hear that word )
And started plastering videos all over the net of them living their best lives etc

I parked up in deserted places in the back of my work van and either used public toilets where available or a bucket to pee in or a bag in a bucket for solids or in extremis a hole in the ground well away from anything or anyone ...

I never dumped waste in streams or verges etc etc ...

We don't need more legislation in terms of what folks can have in their vans ....where does that stop ?
Some would argue a ban on folks doing their own electrics/diesel heaters is needed more ....

What's needed IMHO is more education AND tougher penalties ENFORCED for those that behave in an antisocial manner .
Click to expand...
Spot on, well said 👍
 
mistericeman said:
In ALL the years I've stayed away in a van ....
AND Long before any bandwagon jumping yoghurt weaving types even dreamt of the word "van life" etc (I feel a bit of vomit in my throat everytime I hear that word )
And started plastering videos all over the net of them living their best lives etc

I parked up in deserted places in the back of my work van and either used public toilets where available or a bucket to pee in or a bag in a bucket for solids or in extremis a hole in the ground well away from anything or anyone ...

I never dumped waste in streams or verges etc etc ...

We don't need more legislation in terms of what folks can have in their vans ....where does that stop ?
Some would argue a ban on folks doing their own electrics/diesel heaters is needed more ....

What's needed IMHO is more education AND tougher penalties ENFORCED for those that behave in an antisocial manner .
Click to expand...
Yes, spot on. 👍
 
First let's get the story correct, which I'm sure any pedantic person would want, NZ is not banning campervans without toilets.
They are wanting to ban vans without toilets from making use of the Freedom Camping Act for areas which don't have toilets. Anyone can still convert and use a van without a toilet, just don't expect to use a area set up for vans which have toilets.
 
colinm said:
First let's get the story correct, which I'm sure any pedantic person would want, NZ is not banning campervans without toilets.
They are wanting to ban vans without toilets from making use of the Freedom Camping Act for areas which don't have toilets. Anyone can still convert and use a van without a toilet, just don't expect to use a area set up for vans which have toilets.
Click to expand...
now don't go on and spoil rants by spouting actual facts! that is not playing the game :D
 
Moped said:
Does New Zealand have a large network of motorhome service aires France style?

Or is it more U.K. like?

I’m guessing the public loos in more isolated parts of NZ are sceptic tank based so green tank additives would need to be used. After all, on board loo or not, black waste ultimately has to be disposed of.

I’m never going there but clearly this could give the U.K. government ideas.

A network of service points or a law permitting free access or a maximum fee access of say £3 to campsite service points would be a very good start.

After all the Spanish have a law by which all bars have to give unhindered access to their loos for all so why not give motorhome and camper van users free access to campsite service points as part of the licensing conditions?
Click to expand...
When we were there there was a huge array of dumps provided by most towns for free use.
This organisation was used to reg for self contained use

Home

New Zealand Motor Caravan Association is a membership based organization for private motor caravan. Members benefit from discounts, low cost parking sites, insurance and publications.
www.nzmca.org.nz www.nzmca.org.nz
 
Interesting the discussion is always about camper vans. What about truck drivers who often overnight in laybys and are very poorly provided for. What do they do. ( don't answer)
 
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