The popular tourist town of Margaret River in WA has decided to change the way it approaches the thorny – and recurrent – problem of illegal camping … acknowledging that its previous actions have effectively failed.
At a special council meeting this week, the council decided to introduce a collaborative way of problem-solving and working with the local community to address illegal camping and peak season pressures.
Councillors formally endorsed the approach of bringing diverse community members together to form an ongoing Illegal Camping and Peak Season Community Working Group. It also approved an allocation of $30,000 to progress ‘quick win’ actions identified by the community for the 2025/26 summer season.
Illegal camping is an issue in coastal communities up and down the country. PIC: Cizza
Shire President Julia Jean-Rice said that the Shire was looking forward to managing this complex issue side-by-side with the community.
“For years, residents have raised concerns about the impacts of illegal camping and peak season pressures,” said President Jean-Rice. “These impacts are real and felt daily by our community – human waste in public spaces, safety concerns in car parks, reduced access to beaches and natural areas, and pressure on local amenity.”
She said it had been a persistent issue, and the council’s aim was to work more transparently and collaboratively with the community to better manage it.
“Traditional responses to illegal camping have relied on enforcement, and while that remains an essential tool, experience shows that fines alone are not effective,” she said. “These complex community issues require nuance, local knowledge, sustained attention, and the kind of adaptive problem-solving that can only come from genuine partnership between community and council.”
Ms Jean-Rice said community members had proposed practical solutions spanning enforcement, infrastructure, education and collaboration.
“The new initiatives that we’re trialling this year will help make a difference in the short term, and we’re committed to working side-by-side with our community to continuously improve by monitoring, evaluating, and adjusting our approach over the years,” she said. “Based on the community group’s feedback, we are going to explore installing gates to manage access at Barrett Street Weir, but we will consult with the broader community before pursuing this option.”
Ahead of the 2025/26 peak season, the Shire is now working on implementing Shire-wide actions including increasing fines for illegal camping to $200, adjusting Ranger patrol routes and maintaining randomised schedules, improving signage and messaging, and working more closely with DBCA to strengthen collaboration between rangers.
The idea is that, going forward, the community working group will operate as an advisory body to inform illegal camping actions over time, including identifying emerging problem areas, co-designing solutions informed by local knowledge and operational constraints, informing an annual budget for locally prioritised actions, monitoring implementation and evaluating results through evidence and community feedback.
Ms Jean-Rice stressed that it was really important to note that not all campers are the same, and that some were people experiencing homelessness.
A comprehensive post-season evaluation report will be provided to Council in early 2026, informing budget priorities and roadmap refinement for the following year.
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How about provide a cost effective RV park area??
Yes , and that could bring much needed business to the town
How about… a (local) resident “Camping guide/person” to record visitors and maybe educate them on the respectable behaviour while visiting.
Venice and Noosa, and other like tourist magnets are experiencibg tourist fatigue.
Tourists in the past were welcomed. They brought big dollars to the community, which provided prosperity for local businesses and improved facilities in the area.
Towns and residents are feeling resentful, due to mis- and overuse of current facilities and space.
There may be two options:
. Increase the variety of accomodation to cater for the range of tourist preferences for sophistication and budget
. Regulate visitor numbers to a numerical limit by a booking voucher system.
I personally would dislike visiting towns and scenic spots that are highly regulated. Draconian laws and regulations would soon take the joy out of the principal reason for travel…freedom and fkexibility.
Nor would price fixing interest me, as I have experienced in Exmouth.
As a fully contained traveller, with a slide on camper, I do not require much in facilities. So many RVs are built now as self contained, but caravan parks have failed to respond to those changes. They have over capitalised by providing facilities no longer required by travellers.
There’s money to be made, for those who revise their business plans.
By so doing, many of the issues now being experienced by communities, would not exist.
Guys… we are mainly talking about the young camper vehicle contingent who are not “self-contained”… not our Nomad generation!
Provide toilets + dumpsters and the problem is halved, ok?!
Most such o/night spots are away from homes, so a little “duff duff” late at night bothers no one who has learned the Golden Rule : carry earplugs!!
Let’s do everything to keep Oz free… for us and for well-meaning visitors on a budget!