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Rumours Te Arai campground to close

 

Conflicting stories are emerging on the closure of a popular northern campground.

According to forestry ranger and Te Arai campground manager, Mike Patterson, the camping area was due to be closed because of concerns over non-licensed dogs, falling branches and lack of profit.

Patterson, who has been employed since 2009 by owners John Darby Partners, says he was told that Te Arai campground will close down at the end of April, five months before the contract ends.

People who have booked in during this time are now left to find alternative camping grounds.

“The last two months have been very stressful,” Patterson says. “I’m in absolute shock about it.”

He says campers themselves have been upset about the imminent closure.

“People have a lot of special memories camping here… there are a few families who have been coming for four generations.”

However, spokesman for Darby Partners, David Lewis denies the campground will be shut down any time soon.

“We are not ‘closing' the campground… The proposal for Te Arai South is about protecting and enhancing ongoing access to the beach, the surrounding area and creating improved recreational opportunities – including proposals for camping,” he says.

“We have taken all summer bookings and are now looking at how the campground area is best managed going forward.”

The campground offers campers a grassroots camping experience with tent sites available throughout the pine trees and outdoor communal kitchen and dining area. The site borders Te Arai beach, popular for surfing, horse trekking

and home to 16 endangered birds including the fairy tern whose numbers are a mere 40.

Lewis says the campground area is located within 175 hectares of newly preserved land in Te Arai South and, when added to the existing adjoining areas of public reserve, will form a public reservation of 700 hectares.

“It will protect the coastal strip from Mangawhai Harbour to Pakiri… going around and through Te Arai South to create new public access and recreational-ecological linkages to the lakes,” he says. “This will be a superb resource for the community and the region… protecting public access and preserving the beach in perpetuity.”

Darby Partners want to see camping and other recreational facilities continue in Te Arai South says Lewis.

If closure of the campground becomes a reality, Patterson will not only be out of a job but also a home, as he lives on site. He says he does not know what he will do if forced from a place he obviously loves.

“I would like to stay here for a long time and keep providing a service to the campers,” Patterson says. “I try to make camping a pleasurable, stressful experience, and get a kick out of seeing people enjoying themselves.”

 
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