Freedom camping has come under fire around the country.

Freedom campers have angered a South Island runanga after defecating on a Maori burial ground.

Brendan Flack, tangata tiaki of Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki, said a burial ground was located on the edge of Warrington Domain, on the coast north of Dunedin.

An unexpected surge of freedom campers had overloaded local facilities, and the campers had resorted to using the domain itself as a toilet, he said.

EMMA DANGERFIELD/FAIRFAX NZ Over summer the 400-resident town of Warrington can have as many as 100 campervans and cars parked up at the domain at a time.

Read more:

* Freedom camping won't be solved by fines and chasing the campers away

* Freedom campers stay longer and spend more than other tourists

* Freedom camper 'rebellion' in Christchurch

"It's disrespect. It's a whole heap of levels in terms of inappropriate behaviour. It also extends to the kai moana [seafood] as well... if the sewage isn't dealt with in the appropriate way it ends up in our waterways."

CHARLOTTE CURD/stuff.co.nz Locals have been confronting pooing freedom campers at Taranaki's prime surf spots.

Flack said the graves were unmarked and it was unclear how large the burial ground was.

"A lot of people lived there for a long time. Their practices were different from people living in the last couple of hundred years."

Over summer the 400-resident town of Warrington can have as many as 100 campervans and cars parked up at the domain at a time.

"It's a sort of at a stage where the whole reserve is getting taken over by people in cars or vans pretty much for several months," said Flack.

"We have manaaki [hospitality], we look after our guests and everything," he said, but the freedom campers had started to affect the residents.

"Their wishes are paramount, rather than people that breeze in and breeze out don't have an understanding and don't have a respect for places."

Flack said the runanga had an interest in protecting against degradation of the land, but had yet to discuss whether it would offer to install facilities or other measures to contain the waste problem.

He said simply installing more toilets would not necessarily help, and that the "rudimentary at best" local sewage system couldn't handle the influx.

Flack said signposting the burial area might encourage fossickers.

Two Warrington residents made submissions at the community board's May meeting, saying campers prevented locals from making full use of the domain for recreation.

Solutions floated at the meeting included restricting vehicle numbers, and restricting use to self-contained vehicles.

Gerard Collings, chair of the Waikouaiti Coast Community board, said it was unlikely a bylaw could be processed by next season.

"There's a statutory process that the council would have to go through to change the bylaw."

Collings said the board wanted to deal with the issues, and recognised that there were benefits to having campers in the area.

"Freedom camping is a growing part of the market."

He said extra foot traffic benefited the community, and locals were looking at ways to leverage business off the visitors.

Last summer, Dunedin City Council installed extra signage and provided temporary toilets for campers.

"The council has taken the position that we we don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water and hey, let's make this work."