The Western Australian town of Busselton is set to toughen its penalties for illegal camping.
The shire says the practice is a major eyesore and is causing problems for local tourism and caravan facilities.
“There are a lot of issues such as toilet facilities, litter and anti-social behavior,” said Busselton Shire’s ranger and emergency services manager, Tim Wall. “We’ve had people dumping their waste in reserve areas which is totally unhygienic and unacceptable.”
Yuk!
Mr Wall identified backpackers going around Australia as the major illegally camping offenders but there is no doubt that some grey nomads will be caught up in the dragnet.
“How are we going to keep caravan parks afloat if backpackers keep illegally camping?” asked Mr Wall. “The message gets around to a lot of these people, who don’t have accommodation, that if you come down to Busselton you can stay in the jetty car park or reserve areas.”
Fair point, I guess. You certainly don’t want the problem getting out of control.
“We have an obligation to our rate-payers and accommodation providers to make sure people can use the facilities here,” Mr Wall told the Busselton-Dunsborough Mail. “It is 10 bucks a night to put your caravan in a park, if you can’t afford it, how are you travelling around Australia?”
Ten bucks a night! In Busselton! Pull the other one, Tim! I am certainly not defending people who camp illegally and disrespect the environment but let’s get our facts straight as we discuss the issues. Parks charging what some may consider exorbitant fees for services and facilities that many travellers don’t want or need is certainly one of the issues.
“We’ve had people string clothes between trees on the jetty foreshore and it’s something we don’t really want tourists seeing,” Mr Wall said. “If they’re parked in front of a sign where there is no camping permitted, then they will receive an infringement.”
Okay. Mr Wall. That doesn’t sound unreasonable … but enough with the 10 bucks a night stuff!
Up until the end of last month, the Shire of Busselton had received 48 complaints and has issued 74 warnings and 171 fines to illegal campers.
