Another coastal council has lost patience with the illegal free campers that have ‘invaded’ local streets and car parks.
Kempsey Shire Council on the NSW Mid North Coast has erected signage banning overnight stays, and stepped up patrols of popular areas, as well as issuing heavy fines.
Kempsey Shire councillor Leo Hauville told the Daily Telegraph that many campers had resorted to parking in local streets around the holiday hamlets of Crescent Head, South West Rocks and Hat Head because campsites are completely booked out as a result of the pandemic.
“It’s night time and they can’t stay at the beachside camping area so they’ll go into backstreets of towns and park areas and stay there,” Mr Hauville said. “A minority of them are doing the wrong thing, they’re inappropriately camping and staying overnight, they’re using people’s front gardens as toilets, throwing rubbish out … it’s uncaring, quite selfish.”
According to the Daily Telegraph, camping overnight in local streets is allowed under the Local Government Act, provided parking is permitted on the road. However, if the car is in a restricted area, the occupants may be moved on or issued with a fine.
Mr Hauville said some of the campervans are parking on private property without permission or staying longer than parking signs permit.
While he said the boom in domestic tourism had been good for the Mid North Coast in general, it had also meant many caravan parks had been booked out, leaving some travellers short of accommodation options.
“The campers are often surfers looking for a cheap stay while they chug along the coast following the waves,” Mr Hauville said. “Some free campers don’t have respect for the locals that live here … it’s an ongoing problem.”
Back Crappers always ruin it for the weary fatigued travelers who need to sleep, revive and stay alive. There needs to be more areas set aside for those who do the right thing and spend money in those towns…