Call grows to tighten New Zealand law that allows public pooping if no one watching
There is a provision in law that allows people to poop in public without being penalised
A camping association in New Zealand has called on the government to amend the laws that allow people to poop in public if they don't think they are being watched. They want the law to be tightened amid long-running accusations that the campers are responsible for increase in excrement and toilet paper littering in popular tourist destinations.
Under the law, defecating or urinating in a public place (other than in a public lavatory) is an offence, but, if the person can show they had reasonable grounds for believing they were not being observed, they may be able to escape a $200 fine.
"There is no law in New Zealand that forces one to poop their pants if caught short, and RCAi believes minimising the more undesirable aftermath would be the most appropriate way of addressing the problem in the short term," the Responsible Campers Association Inc (RCAi) told local news channel, Newshub.
The RCAi argues that the law should also require people to show they conducted their business at least 50 metres from a waterway and the waste is buried to at least 15cm.
It has also called for more toilet facilities to be made available to travellers as the ideal long-term solution, calling for the Waka Kotahi, the NZ Transport Agency, to fund these alongside state highways.
The freedom camping group has been in the news over the years over concerns about its impact on the environment, especially when it comes to campers’ personal waste.
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The freedom campers are often accused of pooing in public and littering with toilet papers in tourist destinations. Some local councils have opted to ban the campersfrom hotspots altogether.
Frictions between campers, locals and the government peaked in late 2020, when tourism minister Stuart Nash told the national broadcaster, RNZ, that freedom campers in non self-contained vehicles “pull over to the side of the road and … shit in our waterways”.
(With inputs from agencies)
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