A flood-prone 72-hour free camping area near Cairns in North Queensland will fully re-open again from tomorrow.
The Greenpatch camping ground in Gordonvale – which sits on the banks of the Mulgrave River – has been closed since March 18 due to the increased risk of flash flooding during the wet season.
Cairns Regional Council took over the management of the campground several years ago after it was revamped from an ‘illegal camping ground’ to an established site.
The facility underwent an expensive transformation to create 42 formal campsites and a new amenities block, complete with floodwater siren installed on the rooftop. The site also has a dump point and day-use facilities such as picnic spots.
However, the wisdom of spending $2.4 million to upgrade the camping ground, only to lock the gates and prevent campers from staying for several months a year due to flooding fears, has raised eyebrows.
And it’s also sparked considerable anger.
In the past, the campsite’s gates have been unhinged and broken down, forcing the council to put large boulders in place instead to keep would-be campers out.
Records from the Bureau of Meteorology show the area flooded 14 times in the 17 years to 2017.
There have been several successful evacuations at Greenpatch since the new campground was constructed and opened.
Last year, backpacker Matthew Wells, was one of 50 campers who were evacuated from campground as 200mm of rain was dumped on parts of the region.
He said the stressful experience of escaping the camping area was compounded when heavy rain caused an awning on his van to snap off, immobilising the vehicle as evacuation sirens sounded across the grounds.
“It took everyone 20 minutes to evacuate, it took me over half an hour,” Mr Wells told the Cairns Post. “Just before the alarm sounded my awning snapped and bent and I couldn’t put it back in.”
At the time of that evacuation, Division 1 Councillor Brett Moller said the council had done a lot of work to improve safety outcomes for the campsite.
“We have installed water level gauges and siren alarms to warn of rising river and creek levels.” Cr Moller said. “There are warning signs and evacuation plans in place … and campers make their own assessment of the risks in choosing to camp or not camp.”
It’s a great spot – clean and tidy nice outlook but near the road! Everyone should research and understand that north Qld floods so be prepared – love the idea of the sirens!!!!
I have not camped there, but I would if in the area and it suited…but as always be prepared. If camping near any water course, especially if that area is prone to flooding. It doesn’t have to be raining right where you are to see a water course rise dramatically in a very short time…that can be down to minutes not hours.
Good on the Council for taking the initiative to keep the area open to campers and installing warnings of increasing water levels…