Just four months after voting to close the 72-hour recreational vehicle stopover site in Burekup in WA, the Dardanup Shire has decided to reopen it as a 24-hour stopover site instead.
The Bunbury Herald reports that, following consultation with the local community, councillors unanimously voted to reopen the site on Gardiner Reserve but to restrict stopovers to 24 hours.
According to the newspaper, the site, was designated as an RV stopover site in 2015 and eventually established in late 2020 despite warnings that the monitoring of the site would be limited with rangers unable to conduct daily routine inspections because of resourcing limitations.
When it operated as a 72-hour stop, the site – located next door to River Valley Primary School and behind the town’s general store – allowed up to five recreational vehicles to park at the site at any one time with visitors advised to register their presence at the town’s general store.
However, it was closed in late February after the Shire received about 16o complaints in the year it had been open, with complaints stemming from caravanners allegedly not following site conditions.
At the time, Shire president Mick Bennett told the Bunbury Herald most of the complaints were that caravanners would ‘act like they owned the place’ and not follow site conditions.
“Most complaints were that caravanners would please themselves where they would park; some were not registering because of late arrival and not adhering to the signage conditions,” he said. “We also had too many people park at the site at times.”
However, the council has now decided to try again with a shorter time limit and more regulations. Under the new rules just agreed by councillors, the 24-hour site will allow up to three vehicles to be parked there at any one time, with bollards and signage likely to be installed in the coming months.
The Bunbury Herald reports that the site will also follow the same rules as the Shire’s other 24-hour RV stopover site at the Dardanup Town Hall, which had not experienced any of the same issues.
The 24-hour RV stopover site is set to reopen from September.
As the volume of travellers increases, there will be more and more albeit a minority, abusing these rest stops. Ignoring the rules is disrespectful to the local shire and the community. It should not be up to the shire to get rangers to continually check that we are doing the right thing; it is up to all of us to adhere to the rules and call out those who do not.
We are retired Grey Nomads and there is no way we would “call out” campers who do not abide by the imposed rules of any free camp. Not a lot of respect seems to apply these days and I would never risk my husbands well being i.e. being punched, kicked or even shot because someone has taken exception to his “calling out” of their rule breaking.