Campsite consent refused over highway’s lack of turning lane

A group seeking consent for a motor home campsite near Picton has hit a road block due to concerns it will mean more slow-moving vehicles waiting to turn in the middle of State Highway 1.

The New Zealand Motor Caravan Association (NZMCA) has applied to the Marlborough District Council for a resource consent to subdivide a property in Koromiko, so it can operate a motor caravan park for short-term stays for up to 80 vehicles.

The privately-owned property on Freeths Rd already had a camping site, operating there for the better part of 20 years, however the council had no idea it did not have a resource consent until the NZMCA made contact with the council’s duty planner. It had a median number of 20 vehicles a day.

But a decision from independent commissioner Gary Rae found the extra traffic on State Highway 1, mainly from large and slow-moving camping vehicles, would increase the risk of accidents, because there was no right-hand turning bay into Freeths Rd.

The application was therefore denied, however, the NZMCA had since filed an appeal with the Environment Court.

The resource consent decision, released last month, said subdividing the property would mean one property for the existing dwelling and a separate property for the motorhome site.

The NZMCA said the site was close to Picton, where many of their 100,000-plus members caught or got off the ferry. The association had a network of 56 short-stay motor home parks for self-contained vehicles across the country available to its members.

Rae accepted there were positive effects to having it near the Picton ferry terminal, and did not think the proposal would have adverse effects on the environment that could not be mitigated.

However it would generate extra traffic needing to make a right turn manoeuvre on the 100kph section of the highway, the decision said.

Evidence from a Waka Kotahi senior road safety engineer said three crashes between 2017 and 2021 involved vehicles making right-hand turns into Freeths Rd, two of which involved vehicles hit from behind.

In another instance, a vehicle towing a caravan made the right turn, but a log truck had to brake heavily and swerved into the opposing lane. This resulted in a southbound vehicle taking evasive action and swerving into a paddock.

“There is insufficient room for traffic to pass on the inside of traffic held up waiting to make the right turn,” the decision said.

“Right-turning traffic is also affected by platoons of southbound traffic, increasing the wait time and risk of accidents.”

He said the intersection needed a right-hand turning bay, ideally through a “cost sharing” agreement with Waka Kotahi.

“However, the applicant has not been able to provide a proposal for mitigation as part of this application, and there is no ability for a condition to now be imposed requiring a right turn bay. Accordingly, I am not able to provide consent.”

In an appeal to the Environment Court filed in August, the NZMCA said any adverse effects on traffic were “on account of existing deficiencies in the local state highway network”, not the resource consent application.

It was Waka Kotahi’s job to manage, operate and fund the state highway network, including identifying and mitigating existing traffic deficiencies, the appeal said.

“The crash history provided by NZMCA demonstrated the lack of significant accidents and minimal number of other road incidents with an operational campground on the site, allowing an accurate factual assessment of the traffic effects,” the appeal said.

It said the decision gave insufficient weight to the evidence of the NZMCA’s traffic expert which included the visibility at the intersection on the long, straight road, which the expert said allowed enough time for vehicles waiting to turn right on Freeths Rd to be seen by other vehicles.

A council spokesperson said the council would wait on the outcome of the court process before considering what to do about the camping site that did not have consent.

The property owner declined to comment.