The friction between some caravan park owners and those grey nomads and other travellers who seek out free camping opportunities continues to escalate in many areas.
In the latest salvo, the owner of the Moana Caravan Park in north Queensland has appealed to Mackay Regional Council to send out rangers to crack down on caravans illegally staying on roadsides overnight.
Shirley Stephens told the Daily Mercury newspaper that her park always had vacancies, but there was still nothing to prevent travellers from stopping by the roadside.
And she dismissed the perceived economic benefit that free campers bring.
“The council’s got it in their brain that we need these free campers,” she told the paper. “We don’t need free campers, they will not spend money, they are not the ones who spend money!”
Ms Stephens insisted that it was the grey nomads who stayed in van parks who had the cash and were the ones who are going to put money into the community.
The Moana park has tried to cater to the budget campers by offering guests the chance to pay $6 per head for an overnight place to park with use of the showers, and $22 for a powered overnight stay.
“We are the cheapest park in the district, yet travellers are not stopping in,” Ms Stephens said. “They bypass the Mackay area as Mackay doesn’t allow free parking.”
She said the whole free camping situation was going to become a major problem in the next couple of years and needed to be nipped in the bud.
“They need to support those of us who are already here by reducing our costs, particularly the caravan registration costs,” she said. “They also need to support main roads so they can get them out of the truck stops which are being overrun with caravans.”
However, Councillor Ayril Paton told the Daily Mercury it would cost too much to employ rangers to police illegal caravanners.
“It would cost close to $200,000 just to employ two rangers,” Cr Paton said.
• Comment below
We are mainly free campers but we do spend money in the towns we stay in. We do not need caravan parks as we are fully self contained. If we come to a town that doesn’t have a free camp we drive on to the next town that has a free camp, and spend our money there.
Yes we do exactly the same thing no free camping we bypassed the town
Well let me tell you people who free camp spent more money in most towns then people who live there as they tend go spent in other spot towns rely on free campers and camper support these towns
Caravan parks are starting to wake up. Grey nomads aren’t stingy. They just hate being ripped off and many have been in the past. That’s when free camping started. We buy our fuel, bread, milk and some that can afford it do tours etc when they aren’t exorbitant prices. The dollar only goes so far and need a to spread around. Same old. Best value gets best results
Maybe she needs to look at her park and attitude to people. I gree camp and if a town says i have to stay in a caravan park i bypass it. We do spemd money in the towns just not caravan parks we go to cafes supermarkets fuel and various other places. She needs to talk to the council at Julia Creek a very small town with the biggest free camp i have ever come across run by the council and they also jave a caravan park run by the council which they put on a meal for everyone including free campers which they run a bis to pick up free campers it is all that keeps the town going in hard times. You have to have something to make people want to come there not high prices because it hss a lot of miners
Interestingly, the caravan park at Julia creek was well populated when I stayed in the free camp in 2016. There were also a lot of vans in the free area, as many like me prefer the ‘non-manicured” stopovers, and are self contained. Julie Creek is a great success story of an RV friendly council and town. I made sure to top up my fridge and pantry, and enjoyed lots of takeaways, as well as filling my tank and gas bottles.
$6 per head is at least $12 per night for a couple. Is it $22 per head with power? Or per caravan? My wife an I live on the pension we dont have much money so free is always the best option. We buy diesel, petrol, food and a few stubbies. Money left over gets us clothes, insurance, registration, tyres etc etc
My wife and I wandered around our great country for over 15+ years some in c/parks others in low cost camps. I don’t understand why your park isn’t getting custom at the prices. But don’t kid your self the Nomad only has a limited amount of money so weather it is spent on accommodation or groceries there is only one lot. I think Shirley Stephens may have to change her attitude
I agree re her attitude. Because of her silly comments and agro approach I will never stop there despite her very reasonable charges. If she wants to fill up her park she needs to look at her marketing strategy, and develop a friendly welcoming attitude
I think it’s fast becoming time for caravan parks to copy petrol stations with a pricing board – showing “Powered” – “Unpowered” and “Self-Contained” tariffs. Then travellers going past the park can immediately see what’s offered and support those offering a decent tariff for self-contained travellers. After too many times when the CP manager has smirked ‘You are joking!’ after I ask for a reduced tariff as I will not use any of the park’s facilities, I no longer even go into a CP – I just drive past the CP and keep going down the road
So where do you empty your black, grey water and fill your water tanks? Someone has paid to provide these “free” facilities you take for granted.
Many of the facilities in the regional areas are paid for by grants, these grants are paid from taxes levied on those of us who live in cities.
Caravanners are the only travellers who are expected to pull in to a park and to pay to stop the night. Truckies don’t, people are allowed to sleep in their car on the side of the road. When I read about whingers like this one I keep a note of it and we go on by. We will only spend what we have.
It’s not just about the cost of camping – people want great experiences, friendly owners and co campers and events to attend. Even the most remote parks get clientele if they have a drawcard.
I agree with Robyn, we are sick of being ripped off at parks.
I totally agree
We usually free camp& do support towns. More park owners need to think outside the square by offering things. We have some favourites e.g Julia Creek Qld, the free camp & caravan park work together with the community offering great nights with proceeds going to kinda, school etc.
Another is Ilifracombe CP who are well known for their halarious happy hour. We have watched them grow over several years, hence we have to pre book now!!
Maybe if this lady tidied up the appearance of her CP, she might get more custom. Her pricing is fine….but the appearance of the CP from the roadway certainly is not very enticing. Ms Stephens is way out of touch with her comment that ‘free campers will not spend money.’
At that price, I would stay there while in Mackay but when there recently I simply didn’t know about it and stayed at another one for 3 nights. Once the deal goes into the next Camps Book, that’s when they can expect more customers. (but she needs to get rid of her negative attitude or she won’t be keeping them!)
We travelled throughout WA and SA with our 2 small dogs. We got sick of the rules at caravan parks, the extra costs of having the dogs (if we could even find dog friendly caravan parks), and of being cramped into a tiny spot. Rules about times we could use services at the cp, not being dog friendly during long weekends or school holidays, not being able to fill our water tank, not being able to park our car next to our van, and having to move our van one time because the owner wanted to mow the lawn when we were only there for 2 nights and they were not full by any stretch of the imagination! We paid money for solar and set ourselves up to be self contained as we also appreciate being able to reduce our footprint on the planet, so we are not too tight to spend money, we just reserve the right to spend it how we see fit, not because it is demanded for the ‘inconvenience’ of us staying somewhere in our self contained van with our dogs. Also, we have an olive grove and wanted to offer self contained free camping to people interested in sharing the experience and have to apply to our council as a caravan park, so many of the free camp spots actually have had to jump through exactly the same hoops as cp owners, so there is no justification for the exorbitant fees many charge (usually around $40 per night for us when we travelled).
Well …no free camp and I don’t go … simply put … I like free camp … don’t like the masses around me …but am happy to paid to dump and refill my water tanks… plus also do wish to visit places where I can walk to town for the odd feed and shop … so I would stay …at times ..in a park… but any place that is against free camp .. I would try not to go …I sold my last van and lived o/s because i was feed up with all the rules etc in Australia ….but I love the country so am happy to try again !!
Where is this park and it’s name we will be heading to Mackay in November so will definitely stay there
Whilst I prefer to free camp if I can, there are times when I prefer the security of a cheap park or showground. I always research where I plan to stop for the night & if they don’t have a decent website showing their rates & conditions & are not listed on the websites I use or in my Camps Australia book then I don’t bother. I also won’t use a park that says Pets Conditional – what does that even mean? Conditional on their size or breed. Do they only take small dogs but don’t want to say so till you get there then tell you your dog is too big because it’s not a chihuahua, Maltese cross or similar? The thing that gets me is all these C/Pks whinging about free camps taking their business but did the local motels do the same when the parks started putting in cabins?
We use both caravan parks and free, currently we are in a run down park here in Mt Isa nearly worse than a free camp
, dusty, camp kitchen not cleaned daily, nor the toilets, like yesterday the back packer doing the cleqning moped the floor in the tolet yet left the rubbish bin full.
Yesterday afternoon the water was off due to a burst pipe when i spoke to a staff member she told me that it was the 4th burst in 2 weeks, and blammed the council for increasing water pressure, my belief is lack of maintenance. Guess what no water again here at 6am this morning.
no wonder the park is 80% empty even the permaents have deserted the park. I would have been better staying at the old deserted town of Mary Kathleen for free instead of paying $43 per night for this dump.
And by the way we spent $600 2 new tyres, $350 car service, $250 groceries $200 happy hour supplies, $50 bunnings gas and incidentals, $100 fuel, all this in 3 days. And they say we do not spend money, a big BS. With out the caravaners many towns off the coastal strip would die.
A big thanks to the towns that have woken ipto the fact we the babby boomers help to keep them alive.
We stayed in this park recently and agree it would have to be one of the worst parks in the country. For a big name park it is an utter disgrace and the price way over the top.
one of the biggest problems is so many C/P owners arnt skilled business people, like so many other small businesses in aust.
they think that just the mere fact of owning a C/P, entitles them to reap huge rewards with little imagination or effort.
My question is WHAT WERE YOU CHARGING when the mines were booming?? Now the mines are going going, not so much need for your park. Yes I do like the $22 fee and I will stay in your park. I come to Mackay regularlly but I will not stay in a park that charges $35 or more.
When we bought our caravan we did not notice anything that said that now you have a caravan you have now become a customer of caravan parks. If this was a condition of purchase we would not own one. We have done a lot of caravanning and it would not have been possible if we were compelled to stay in overpriced parks
This article would be far more interesting if it had asked people to make suggestions on ways to resolve what appears to be a growing problem.
A solution that appeased all, councils, caravan parks and travelers should be achievable.
While an answer would be multi faceted, one thing that I believe would help is for main roads and local councils to share the cost of creating more 24hr stops dedicated to non commercial vehicles, this simple move would keep the very important truck bays free for their intended use, improve safety for all and allow travellers to reduce their costs which in turn should allow those travellers to spend some extra time in reasonably priced town based caravan parks.
So lets stop criticising the caravan parks, their proprietors or the town and put some positive points forward.
Seriously, at the risk of copping some flak – the lady is only asking $6 per head per night… Yep, the place doesn’t look bushy or ritzy; granted. But, she is trying to price it to the market, i.e we grey caravaners who aren’t flushed with cash, but do need the occasional stop in a park.
Old caravan park half way between Mackay and Sarina beside the new roundabout for the Hay Point and Dally Bay coal ports. If no drive through sites who wants to stay the night and unhitch. Better option at Flagy Rock community camping or c park just past Kuttabul.
I lived in Mackay for years (working the mines) and EVERY caravan park had extremely high rates- so much so that I found it cheaper to move back to Brisbane and stay there, I couldn’t afford the caravan park fees up there once the work dried up
Their prices have dropped, but last time I was went up there to visit friends for a wedding, I still found it cheaper to stay 100km down the coast and drive up daily to visit, than to pay the prices asked locally ($25 a night versus $80 a night in town for two people in a self contained van that needs nothing from the park except somewhere to park the van)
I’m currently at the wonderful Camooweal free camp and every day have gone to town to buy something and made sure I spread around every business equally. I’ve also been to the pub, something I never do. This has been purely because such a great camp has been offered. I note the CPs don’t seem to suffer either, despite being on the pricey side (IMO).
I refuse to go to parks that are expensive (on principle). While I occasionally go to parks, there’s an element that drives me insane in them. Generally other patrons being loud, rude and full of their own importance. I find the free camping set generally more like minded. Respectful etc. It also stresses me out to be on a time schedule to make sure I’m out the gate at 10. Being in a CP is far from relaxing for me.
At $22 I’d consider this park if I needed a park at that time (although there’s one closer to Mackay that’s $20) (I’m a solo traveller and solo charges also help my cause). In reality if I didn’t need a park at that time, I’d simply bypass Mackay. I travel for the long haul, so am generally very well stocked so could get by until next friendly town that doesn’t rely on hyped up bits of beaches.
I know this park, driven past many times it’s not very inviting and looks very run down. The owner is probably still suffering from loss of business when the intersection was redeveloped and mining downturn but she needs to have a look at the presentation of the park and then she may see why she always has vacancies. No need for extras just clean and tidy park and amenities.
The whole of the Mackay area and Whitsunday’s have no free camping.
During the mining boom the accommodation owners in the Mackay area cashed in big time. Now that has dropped off they’re whinging.
We make sure we bypass the whole area and camp either north or south.
I see the Mackay council is looking at some ideas to bring in the grey nomad dollar. A time limited free camp or low cost showground would be great for a start. Grey nomads don’t need fancy parks these days with self contained vans just access to water and dump point for most of us.
Agree with Phil Jones if cp put out a pricing board with the rates for powered, unpowered etc tariffs it would be a great help. Stayed in cp in Alice ans Darwin recently and at $50 plus a night it is a ripoff what cp are charging now.
maybe the name says it all
How many cabins does she have in the van park taking money away from motels now she wants to stop people from free parking looks like she wants it all he way