With the festive camping surge about to get into full swing, so too is the concern in many communities about potential anti-social behaviour.
Illegal camping has been a problem in beachside areas for many years, and there has been a general hardening of attitudes towards those who stealthily ‘park up’ in residential streets or in public parks for a night.
In areas like Port Macquarie on the NSW mid north coast, the local council is urging residents to report illegal camping this Christmas as rangers step up their patrols.
According to the Camden Haven Courier, there have been reports of environmental destruction caused by illegal camping, trail bikes and 4WDing increasing in the bushland behind Grants Beach at North Haven.
A Port Macquarie-Hastings Council spokesperson said council has been contacted by some residents regarding illegal camping on the beach and those matters are being dealt with.
The council said rangers would be actively monitoring and patrolling the beaches over the Christmas period, and it urged people to adhere to rules that are sign posted near beach entrances.
“If the public witnesses illegal camping we ask that they report the incident to council for the rangers to manage,” the spokesperson said. “In the report, photos or information such as registration plate numbers will be very helpful … we do not encourage the public to engage with the offender due to possible safety concerns.”
Council officers are able to pursue compliance action in the event they find an offender at an illegal camping site. They can also cordon off and request waste services assist the clean-up of rubbish remaining at abandoned camping sites.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Environmental Citizen of the Year and Bonny Hills resident Judy Love told the Camden Haven Courier that people had done a lot of work to make Grants Beach a beautiful area.
“After talking to residents, I have heard it is getting worse and there are now several illegal campgrounds near Grants Beach and Bonny Hills,” she said. “These illegal camping sites can be very offensive to see sometimes when people leave their rubbish, toilet paper or worse.”
Beachside Caravan Parks are too dear
I can’t comment on the Port Macquarie situation. But if found myself for some reason unable to afford to pay for a camp or find a free camp, I would not hang out a washing line and advertise my presence (the Americans call it stealth camping for a reason).
Where I used to live by the coast in S.A. the only illegal camping I saw was actually homelessness and that’s a whole other issue.
I don’t know what the answer is and I’ve just added another possible dimension to the problem.
Unfortunately there are always some who are irresponsible. It seems it is difficult to control, as rangers would have to prove that parked vans or cars are actually camping or overnighting. Many of these offenders creep in after dark and leave early morning, hoping to evade any rangers. This means rangers need to work outside normal work hours and make surprise raids in late evening or early morning. We have been travelling in MH for over 2 years and have seen so many offenders, especially those abusing the privileges of RV stops and national park sites as well as those obviously camping illegally, often close to prominent No camping or overnighting signs.
Of course illegal camping will grow. It’s been a problem for years. Some of the campers are homeless, some just refuse to pay for accommodation (which is exorbitant over any holiday season) or, in the past have been backpackers. Fines obviously don’t work but devising some way to do cleanups around where they have been camping or maybe confiscation of vehicles until they work out their time.then of course where do they stay? Tough problem that needs thought and consideration.
On an 18 night trip around Tasmania staying in cabins, we saw lots of illegal camping at beach side locations. We left our caravan back home on the mainland.
A dozen large caravans with en-suites clustered around a toilet block at a boat ramp with NO CAMPING signs erected.
Caravans camped all along the foreshore parkland blocking out the sea views of residents. Washing lines strung up from tree to tree. NO CAMPING signs erected once again.