Homeowners listing their properties on accommodation websites such as Airbnb and Bookabach aren’t meeting consent requirements, moteliers say.
Commercial accommodation providers are paying big bucks for the right to supply holidaymakers with a roof over their head while homeowners are reaping the rewards from booking websites without any extra costs.
Hotels, motels and B&Bs in the Nelson and Tasman regions pay for the right to lease out accommodation, including commercial water rates and trade waste.
Nelson Motels Group administration officer John Gilbertson said for a commercial accommodation provider to get resource consent, they had to ‘‘jump through hoops’’ and comply with conditions including sufficient parking for guests.
The Nelson City Council does not check residential properties offering commercial accommodation but it is in the process of reviewing its resource management plan which covers regulations for homeowners making money from renting out their property.
Gilbertson said the Tasman District Council agreed it wasn’t a ‘‘fair playing field’’ but it was difficult for the council to regulate.
The Motels Group supplied the district council with a database of locals advertising accommodation for over four people, Gilbertson said.
(The Nelson Mail, Tuesday, January 17th, 2017)
Nelson rental prices are following the national trend upward fuelled by high demand for properties across the region.
New Zealand’s rental prices have reached a record high, with the Trade Me Rental Index recording a national median weekly rent of $450 in December, an increase of 7.1 per cent on the same month in 2015.
In Nelson, the median rental index in December 2016 increased 6.9 per cent on December 2015.
Trade Me data reveals the median rental price for a three to four bedroom Nelson house in December 2015 was $380, and December 2016 saw that reach $400.
The overall median rental index, for small units through to houses with five or more bedrooms, rose from an average of $360 in December 2015, to $385 in December last year.
(The Nelson Mail, Wednesday, January 18th, 2017)
A Golden Bay farmer says he has been unfairly landed with the task of fixing a freedom camping problem near Takaka, or face potential prosecution.
Dairy farmer David Rose owns 85 hectares of farmland that borders the Takaka River. The Tasman District Council has recently informed him that he owns the area at Reilly St where hundreds of freedom campers gather.
The site located behind the Takaka Memorial Library has been home to campers sleeping and living illegally in their non self-contained vehicles and campsites for years.
The council asked Rose what he wanted to do about it and he said he would rather take no responsibility for them.
On January 10, Rose received a letter from council advising they had contracted RMAC Services to do a title search. RMAC concluded that the Rose family were the rightful owners of the riverbank and riverbed to the middle line of the river.
The letter from the council said it respected Rose’s previous position that he wished to take no responsibility for the freedom campers.
The letter said Rose had three options.
He could trespass all the people currently occupying his land, both verbally and by posting notices.
The second option was for Rose to define his boundary and pass the ownership to the Crown, which would effectively become a Land Information New Zealand issue, as it was a Crown agency.
The third option was to offer the land as a reserve to Tasman District Council and, if accepted, it would become council’s responsibility. ‘‘If you decide that you cannot assist in resolving these issues council will need to consider its options,’’ the letter concludes.
Rose said he would meet with his family to decide the best way forward.
TDC communications officer Chris Choat said the intention of the letter was just to offer Rose the available options.
(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, January 19th, 2017)
The Nelson City Council is building a $255,000 shared cycle path next to Anzac Park, removing as many as 18 car parks in an effort to add another link to the city’s cycle network.
Construction on the Haven Rd pathway will begin in the middle of the year, with the council yet to confirm exact dates.
The best things in life
are often waiting for you at the
exit ramp of your comfort zone.
Karen Salmansohn