15 Jul 2016

Children's camp not 'commercial activity'

4:45 pm on 15 July 2016

A children's charity camp hopes to be allowed to move to a new site in Paraparaumu north of Wellington, despite a local ban on commercial activity.

Stand Children's Services sought a ruling in the High Court in Wellington yesterday over whether its health camps were a commercial or an industrial use.

The judge reserved his decision.

Stand chief executive Fiona Inkpen said it wanted to move from Otaki to the residential site, but there was a covenant preventing commercial activity.

"The declaratory judgement is around the questions as to whether what we do, in the children's village itself, is a commercial activity.

Ms Inkpen said she wanted to work with the Paraparaumu community in the interests of the children.