Anti-mandate protesters have set up in Christchurch's Cranmer Square. 

It follows the abandonment of a camp-out planned by the Canterbury Freedom and Rights Coalition due to bad weather on Saturday, 

A small number of people had gathered with tents set up on Tuesday. 

One of the protesters, who identified herself as Pam, joined Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald on Newstalk ZB. 

She said she was in Cranmer Square and they are in support of Wellington. 

"A lot of the things I hear on the radio say this is a disjointed lot of people who just like protesting. 

"Yesterday, a letter went to parliament with the main groups who are there [in Wellington], Voices for Freedom, New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science, all sorts of organisations saying what the main requests are and the biggest one is remove the mandates," she said. 

A small number of tents appear to have been set up on Tuesday morning. Photo / Hamish Clark 

Christchurch City Councillor Jake McLellan took to Facebook to vent his frustration. 

"Disappointing to see protesters have now set up camp at Cranmer Square. Residents have been putting up with large amounts of disruption for months now. 

"Protesting is an important part of democracy. However, targeting a residential area for a sustained period of time doesn't seem fair to me. Certainly not winning any hearts or minds," he said. 

A council spokeswoman said they have engaged with the protesters and provided them with a copy of the Parks and Reserves Bylaw 2016, as Cranmer Square is covered by this bylaw. 

Cranmer Square is considered a reserve and under section 11 of the bylaw, no one can camp in a reserve. 

"We are working closely with police on the next steps. 

"We appreciate these gatherings are causing ongoing concerns and are a disruption for local residents, and we are very focused on avoiding any escalation of issues as safety is our main priority," they said.