A new caravan park could soon be built at beautiful Crowdy Head on the magnificent New South Wales Mid North Coast.
An unnamed developer has reportedly bought the former co-operative building on Crowdy Harbour foreshore from the fish co-op liquidators, and is now in negotiations with Crown Lands to lease and develop the site.
Crowdy Head, the second most easterly point of NSW, is surrounded by national park with no through traffic and just one road in and out.
The Manning River Times reports that local residents are highly alarmed about the proposals.
“Crowdy Head is a pristine coastal area and its harbour foreshore is part of one of the few remaining coastal hamlets on the NSW coast and, as such, should be preserved for future public recreational use,” a spokesperson for the Crowdy Head Foreshore Preservation Group (CHFPG) told the Times. “Crowdy Head is frequently referred to as ‘the jewel in the crown of the Manning Valley’, and provides recreational and tourism facilities to local people and visitors to the valley … as such it is of vital economic and environmental importance.”
The developer’s proposal is apparently to turn the former Crowdy Head Fishermen’s Co-operative into a caravan park, cafe and boat moorings.
Although the site is currently Crown Land, the developer has indicated he will be seeking a change to Greater Taree City Council’s current Local Environment Plan, in order to accommodate his plans.
The Manning River Times reports that the developer has been meeting with officers of Crown Lands and council, and has gone so far as to inform residents that both are in favour of the development.
He needs however to submit a development application which would have to gain Crown Lands’ approval before being lodged with council.
Would you use a caravan park at Crowd Head? Do you agree with residents that the hamlet should be a van-park free zone? Or should ‘their’ slice of paradise be open for us all to stay at and enjoy?
I suppose it’s fair to say that if Australia were entirely people-free, it would be 100% environmentally pristine. However, people exist, and they’re not gonna go away in a hurry. So it’s all about balance and compromise. No single interest group should be responsible for the management of places like Crowdy Head. That would be unfair. Provided all interest groups are given an equal say in how the area is managed and developed, that would be fine with me. It would mean compromise but that’s the way it is if we’re all gonna share the same cake.
quote ‘the jewel in the crown of the Manning Valley’, and provides recreational and tourism facilities to local people and visitors to the valley … as such it is of vital economic and environmental importance.”
I would have thought that a caravan park, cafe and boat moorings on a site which has already been developed (is not pristine) would satisfy the objective of providing recreational and tourism facilities for the locals and tourists. I would certainly stay at this van park if it goes ahead. I can understand the locals wanting to preserve their area for themselves, but if the aim is to have a tourist destination then a van park would be a complementary addition to the area.
Monkey Mia in WA is in a similar situation, and it works well. The National Parks supervises access to the dolphin feeding adjacent to the resort and caravan park.
It can work if managed properly, and the numbers are kept to a reasonable level.