Popular tourist towns in WA’s south-west have been inundated with visitors … and illegal campers!
There have been plenty of fines handed out for the offence this season by the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, and the City of Busselton, as well as the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attraction (DBCA).
The Augusta-Margaret River Times reports that the problem has been getting worse.
Augusta-Margaret River Shire sustainable economy and communities director, Nick Byrne, told the newspaper that the local government was looking to expand its team to meet demand.
“Calls for rangers’ assistance have unsurprisingly increased by nearly 100% in the last 12 months, from 897 in 2022-23 to 1674 in the 2023-24 season, reflecting the increased population over the summer season all of us in town have experienced,” he said.
Caravans and motrhomes are a common sight in coastal car parks around the country. PIC: CIZZA
“This is clearly a nuanced and complex situation, and from the shire’s perspective we are treating it carefully.
The shire says it has been recruiting new rangers to ensure it is well staffed to meet the needs of the growing population.
Busselton community planning director, Gary Barbour, told the Augusta-Margaret River Times that rangers gave fines when illegal camping was proven, but an increase in homelessness and workers without housing meant the issue was being treated with compassion.
“The City has observed an increase in illegal camping throughout the City, particularly in popular coastal areas over the summer period,” he said.
A DBCA spokesperson told the paper that campsites within the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park were ‘very busy’ during holiday season, with 102 infringements delivered … up from 60 during the previous summer.
Among the greatest risks posed by campers was bushfire, with 52 ignitions contained by DBCA crews this summer alone.
Interestingly, Augusta-Margaret River’s acting ranger co-ordinator Garth Baxter dispelled the myth that backpackers and overseas visitors were the main culprits.
“We’ve issued more infringements because there are more visitors in the region, but we’ve also taken a firmer stance to keep the broader community safe given the elevated risk of bushfires over summer,” he told the Augusta-Margaret River Times. “We find most people are co-operative, although I would say international travellers are generally more respectful and environmentally conscious than their Australian counterparts.”
Augusta-Margaret River rangers has handed out three fines for people setting fire to bush. All were residents of the shire.
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You can’t travel WA for 3 to 6 months or more without spending money, a lot of money Fuel, food etc., so a lot of “seniors” will not go to WA if you have to go to a caravan park every night. We have been 3 times to WA for months at a time but will not go back if the independant camping at low or no costs is not available.
Agree the authorities have overstepped there mark, They don’t understand the grey nomads spend a lot of money on consumables in towns then they cant afford van parks so they look for alternatives
Firstly, before you accept any fine make sure you ask for the Rangers ID and Authorisation card under the Act for the legislation indicated on the on the spot fine. Check carefully here as if the Authorisation of the Officer named under the relevant Act, the officer is certainly not properly trained in the details of the process of issuing fines. I once worked in a Nat Park Agency and many councils/Nat Parks organisations just hand out the fine books to officers not properly authorised and guess what… fine is invalid.
I also know the Nat Parks I once worked for figured out that if anyone disputes a fine the cost to them to take it further was huge so these were just dropped.
One other thing we found out and is part of ‘parking’ a camper or caravan throughout Europe, there IS a difference between camping and parking, I would dispute any fine here and say I was parked not camping. Some countries in Europe (Spain for example) completely ban freecamping but we ‘parked’ our rental in dozens of freecamps because legally we were ‘parked’ not ‘camped’. Due to this legality, hundereds of little towns now have made some places ‘parking’ places for freecamping, often complete with dump points and rubbish disposal and water. For over 100 days rental camper ‘parking’ in Europe we paid for maybe 20-30 nights and these minimal pay parks (camps) were around $15 per night. Just put your campchairs away and you are ‘parked’ and the rules may be different.
It would be interesting to hear how many fines actually get paid
Good on the Shire, fine them all.
We live in a tourist town in VIC.
In the morning when we take our dog for a walk there are illegal campers at boat ramps & parked in the bush along the foreshore.
Most of them asleep in motor homes & camper vans.
I really don’t see the problem if people have self contained vans.
We free camp all the time and in the morning when we leave no won would ever know we had been there.
Don’t understand why people get so hostile if people do the right thing.
I thought we lived in a free country.
Frankly, I find it offensive that anyone should want to stop people camping on public lands that are not in a built up area. Look at the size of Australia, its enormous and here we have petty council bureaucrats stopping Australians camping in their own country. Its down right disgusting and criminal. Utter greed by local councils who want to bleed every penny they can from people who often can least afford it.
You right on the mark Jason Totally agree the councils are just plain greedy
The councils who impose no free camping policies are doing so at the request of their ratepayers. In some people’s eyes, someone who camps in a car park or a vacant piece of dirt is a freeloader. Not my opinion but some people hate anyone who gets something for free.
If caravan parks stopped price gouging and ripping us all off so dramatically then maybe caravanners would pay to use their facilities.
Ah, the old price gouging claim. Maybe get an accountant to explain the economics of buying and running a caravan park.
Tony we don’t need an accountant to explain the costs .but we need the caravan parks to understand that the price covers all their set up costs and general running costs
These include all the family facilities they provide
I don’t need the swimming pool or the impressive children playground facilities
All at a major cost
So why should I have to pay the nightly price that is set by these costs
Maybe if the caravan parks gave thought to having a cheaper rate that caters for self contained campers this could solve this issue
I recently stayed in a small caravan park in a NSW country town. Lovely well kept park but no swimming pool or kids playground although these were available in the town. The other two parks had both a swimming pool and a playground and guess what they were $15 and $20 per night dearer.
Tony Lee. Firstly, I am sure any prospective owner or Business person, thinking of buying into a Caravan Park would do their due diligence and got advice from their Accountant as part of the process.
Having gained said info, and gone ahead with their purchase armed with all the facts, then they must consider themselves to be capable business operators.
If they are not capable of competing with the oppersition and find they can’t compete then they have only themselves to blame.
You of course, right, Tony. Most people have never been in business so wouldn’t know, shit from Clay.
When I started camping/ caravaning years ago, sites were 10% of motel prices, now they are half to a one third. We always stay at caravan parks but with these price it is getting cheaper to sell the big van & big ute and go to Bali for 3 months of the year. And you get breakfast and clean towels every day.
Margaret River has never been caravan friendly. for Years they refused to put in a dump point.
If they provided areas for low cost tourist/grey nomads they would find a significant increase in revenue for the small towns.
If they want to cram us into overpriced and under serviced van parks we will stop travelling in WA.
The problems are further compounded by the WA national parks booking systems that allow ghost booking of sites 6 months in advance and travellers then get a parks full when trying to book but in actuality the parks are half empty.
WA is becoming a real basket case and need to be taken off the Grey Nomads list of places to travel.
In two recent trips to Perth from NSW, we headed south from Perth on the way home once, and north the second time. We exclusively use free camps and both times we were still within 300km of Perth after three weeks.
Entitled travellers need to see what IS available, rather than whingeing about what ISN’T.
And ask themselves why they think tourist Mecca’s like Margaret River need to spend good money sucking up to freeloaders when they are already overrun with genuine moneyed tourists.
Agree. The country side has so much beauty to offer.
I don’t think it is WA only. All states are getting bad.
More camping and vanning visitors generally equals more economic activity in the surrounding communities. Enforcement of bi-laws is important and necessary but it shouldn’t be seen as the only solution. As is the case in the eastern states designated free camps and low cost camping on local reserves is a good way of keeping campers where you want them and at the same time have them contribute to the local economy. Maybe WA shire councils should be thinking a lot more laterally about problem solving this issue.
Unfortunately more money is made for the corporations with power if they hire people to issue fines. Just like parking meters don’t make money, it’s the fines that are issued for overstaying. What about spending that money on some really great donation/low cost/short term camps, such as those at Kimba and Kingston SE in SA? THAT would help local businesses because it is known that on average, each visitor spends around $200 on fuel, food, and other services. The big caravan chains have too much power and have hiked their costs so the ordinary travellers can’t afford them.
Always, free campers need to do the right thing. Sure we can believe that we have the right to camp anywhere – as long as no one was a nuisance, left rubbish or toileted nearby – there may not be a problem. But there is enough people leaving a mess to create a problem that shuts it down for others. It is not just greed- councils have to keep their region clean and safe – free campers can threaten this. Not you and me of course, but others. How do they distinguish who is doing the wrong thing? And how do they handle the homeless with compassion? Would you want to take this job? Please let’s not make their job harder. They are the authority and have the right to issue fines and move you on. I loved the comment that the overseas visitors were more respectful. I’m not saying don’t free camp, but it you ARE in the wrong place and they ask you to move, then please don’t harass them. Imagine it is your son or daughter doing that job!
If I see someone doing the wrong thing in a free camp I will respectfully explain that they are part of the problem. Perhaps they are not aware of the full situation.
PS. I would like to get my hands on a visible sticker that says “Fully self contained RV” or words that indicate we will not dump waste on site. More of us indicating this may educate those who have never travelled in an RV or camped, that there are alternatives. I have heard some non travellers that think the drain pipe is from our toilet! They just don’t know enough.
If there is any concern about the viability and financial benefits of having a “Free stay” should research the Shire of Kalgoorlie, kamboulder.
They have a 72 hour free stay in town( yes “IN TOWN”) not on the outskirts.
The are has been such a success they recently increased the time you are permitted to stay, put in dump points, increased the number of potable water taps, increased the total area for staying.
Do you think a large Shire like this would cater to the need of Caravaners if it wasn’t financially viable?
I live in the shire of Busselton, it’s a very large shire. there is no free camping anywhere here. nomads don’t need noisy and very expensive caravan parks. most times they want just a quiet spot to rest in. but you will not find it here. our shire does not cater to nomads. we have to go to national parks to get a quiet spot.
Up to a few years ago we used to spend all of February in Busselton but now with all the “events” that are on we cannot get a caravan site for love or money so we stay home in Albany. Too many caravaners & too few sites available. Busselton needs a few more caravan parks not free sites.
Why spend any money providing facilities for tourists when you can hire a few extra rangers and make money fining those same tourists
Whats their bloody problem? Australia is for Australians – and if I want to sojourn a short time and its not on private property, then so be it.
going around the countryside, many small towns have a free EV spot. not in the Busselton shire. anywhere. only very expensive caravan parks. full of stuff myself and many others my age don’t use. bouncy castles, playgrounds, pools. why isn’t there a park with reasonable rate with none of this. kids on holiday are noisy critters. that’s there thing. I would rather park in a quiet park. I am not a grumpy old lady just a quiet camper.