It seems that the irresponsible and selfish actions of a few have once again had a negative effect on the travelling experiences of the many.
As noted by our forum members, the electricity used by free campers at a spot near Leyburn in Queensland has been turned off … and it’s not going to be turned on again. There have been efforts to restrict power use ‘excesses’ by various methods in the past, but the powers-that-be have finally decided that enough is enough.
“It is a real shame that normal travellers who are not abusing the privilege will no longer be able to use the free power,” a Southern Downs Regional Council spokesperson told the Grey Nomads website. “Sadly, people stayed there for months instead of for a few nights and took advantage, so we had to act.”
Engineering staff had previously tried locking the power supply and leaving the key with a local store owner, but the owner reportedly stopped looking after it after being abused. Locks on the supply have been smashed twice and the internal switch damaged as access to the power was sought.
Engineering director Peter See said he had simply had enough.
“We’ve had people living there for weeks at a time,” he said. “It’s not the power, it’s the vandalism.”
The council has put an out-of-reach isolation switch in place to permanently deny power access to free campers. It will still be able to be used when the Leyburn Sprints committee stages its annual sporting event.