The local authority at a popular grey nomad destination in WA’s south-west looks set to reject the idea of supplying a designated overflow camping area to meet peak summer demand.
The Shire of Augusta-Margaret River says the issue is more complicated than simply providing visitors with a place to stay.
Shire president, Julia Meldrum, told the Augusta Margaret River Times that the area was one of the best places in the world, and continued to attract new residents and visitors.
“We are seeing changes in the way people live and travel as they embrace the opportunity to work remotely and the van-life culture,” she said. “A seasonal rest area won’t address all of these issues … this is a complex issue that requires thorough consideration to adequately address all of the issues currently at play.”
Coastal communities across Australia have seen a surge in camper numbers. PIC: CIzza
This summer has apparently seen a surge in visitor numbers which has highlighted a shortage in the number of places to stay, and led to complaints about illegal campers defecating at surf spots, or hanging laundry in the middle of town.
The Augusta Margaret River Times said that figures provided by the shire showed more illegal camping infringements have been issued than ever before, and this has ledt to calls for a designated one-night stop facility for travellers.
The newspaper said that the shire last investigated the issue a decade ago, at which a round table including local caravan park operators rejected the idea as bad for business.
However, Margaret River Business Network president Rob Gough told the August Margaret River Times that making provisions for a dedicated seasonal space would not only support the local economy, but provide alternatives to parking in the bush which would benefit the community at large.
“It is not only hospitality, but our thriving tourism and wine industries who depend on backpackers,” he said. “In many cases, backpackers are so well-educated, worldly, experienced and ambitious that they improve the quality of goods and services of those they work for, above and beyond what they would otherwise be.”
The shire says any solution to the issue would need State Government support.
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When caravan park owners have too much influence on the shire this often happens…..
Yes Mt Barker is another One So Now People Just By Pass it
correct….it’s cost the town
Dead right. Busselton won’t entertain the idea of overflow parking. As a rate payer, I am all in favour of overflows in peak times.
I should mention that when I drove school buses for Southwest Coast Lines 15 years ago, during the July school holidays we would hook up the caravan and head to Broome for a week. Guess where we stayed, yes, an overflow. PCYC. All the Caravan Parks are full June, July and August. There used to be about 100 vans parked at PCYC. Apparently, it has been closed as an overflow.
Thats why I’m in favour of overflows during peak times.
Caravan park owners need reigning in full stop…..
The Shire President says ‘it’s a complex issue’. Sounds like we don’t want to do anything
Yes absolutely, as mentioned already, this type of leisure seeking within a budget is ever increasing. Take a look at RV sites that have been set up, simple , a dump point, fresh potable water, an area to accommodate caravans, campers, tents. If considered, a shower could set up. Set a fee per night per site, not per person. The shower could be set up with a gas instant hot water, a small fee to be paid. Maybe the services club in the ares could do this for some revenue making for their club. The CMCS Club have also set up some. Just some suggestions!! PS, includes some appropriate rubbish bins too please.
Why should shires provide facilities for blow ins?
Their job is to look after their rate payers.
The much quoted saying that visitors put money into the local economy is a bit of a furphy.
Lots of travellers come & go without spending a cent in small towns.
They shop at regional city supermarkets where there’s a wider range & cheaper prices.
Open your eyes 86GTS Blow In’s like us buy fuel at the local Servo, groceries from the local Supermarket, Snacks from the local Bakery, Meals, Beer etc. from the local Pub, and also buy souvenirs and News Papers from the News agent and keep the workers in the local Information Center in a job. Maybe we Blow In’s could ever mix up the local towns Gene pool a little, so the Nimby’s slowly change their attitude to non-townies.
Well said I. Have being in the road five years and always spend money in the town you might ask the local business and tell the caravan parks to not be so greedy who helps the business
Totally agree with your sentiments, Margaret River and SW is getting to be like Byron Bay, Noosa etc
Well said
Well said Len. Where is the Aussie spirit of hospitality, irrespective of whether a so-called blow-in spends big in a town. I wonder if the NIMBY guy himself spent a lot to buy into that town either. Caring and sharing should be everyone’s motto.
I live in a tourist town ,my rates help supply a lot for the tourist, so when I visit other towns, I maybe use something supplied by ratepayers, so even Stevens!!
John B thank you I never thought of it that way. I live on the Gold Coast so yes my rates pay for me, my guests, tourists and visitors to the area. So I shouldn’t feel guilty for being hosted by other towns when I visit. We all pay on the road and at home.
The cost of van parks, council parks and showgrounds etc. is so variable so it is a toss up between paying for a site and self catering vs ‘not so free camping’ and buying a meal in town.
People need to ask themselves Do they support their locals like they expect travellers to. Eat out every day at the local…breakfast, smoko, lunch, sundowners, dinner…or buy groceries, petrol and the random stuff to maintain a home at the more convenient but more expensive establishments or do they go out of their way to find cheaper alternatives? No? Because they prefer to live sensibly and budget wisely so they too can last the distance.
Well said
Small town mentality of the Councils who have never travelled past the outskirts of their hillbilly town.
Totally agree with you, I sit on a NT council board and the same mentality, these decision makers have never camped or travelled and probably never intend too, placing no camping signs all over the place
Totally agree with you. People I have spoken to but groceries at bigger centres because it is cheaper.
What a load of bs. Just ask those towns who monitor the amount travellers spend by asking for receipts. Collinsville in Queensland has a large billboard with each months spending which usually runs in to the tens of thousands. Julia Creek also in Queensland has boosted its economy hugely by embracing travellers. Perhaps you should get out and about a bit more.
What a load of garbage of course people spend money, shopping, coffee shops, site seeing, brewery’s etc etc
86GTS
Don’t you think your rate payers run any businesses.
Quote,”travellers come and go without spending a cent” ?
Do you think that travelling is some sort of Fairy land, where one never needs to buy anything?
If it’s not bought in your town, then it probably gets purchased at another deserving little town down the track!
To paraphrase John B we pay rates here on the Gold Coast which benefits locals and to host visitors and tourists alike. Yes user pays and turn about is fair play. Build the facilities and we will come.
Agreed, ratepayers foot the bill for tourists. They clog up our roads, use our facilities, drop rubbish-all at expense of ratepayers.
User pays system, they should be paying higher amounts, not less. Also environmental levy to accommodate impacts on our treasured envoronments-beaches and bush areas. A big no to this
Don’t you think most tourists are rate payers somewhere too. They don’t get a refund while they are not home.
Your wrong population grows towns benefit do you want to be restricted on your movements on holidays or do you have speacial interest in price hiking and develooment
86GTS – entitled much? Margs/Augusta belongs to all of us. I’ve been a regular “blow in [sic]” for 60 years. No idea how much I’ve spent in the area over that time, but it’s a shtload more than you suggest. And I wonder how long you have been a ratepayer? Odds are you were one of the regular Perth visitors like me until you were fortunate enough to have the bucks to buy in. Doesn’t mean you own the place.
This is a short-sighted and likely self-serving attitude coming from the Shire. Hopefully, less entitled ratepayers with more vision than you will make their views known and if necessary take action next election. The accommodation situation at the moment is highly dysfunctional in its inadequacy. An overnight solution such as that proposed can’t be oh so complicated. It’s necessary, it’s temporary – the Shite should just bloody do it and hurry up about it.
You sound like a caravan Pk owner, get with the program, overflow camping is a must especially at Marg’s.
Blow in pay you bills
The free camping caravan camper trailer are set up for being self contained and leave no trace so these sorts of campers are not going to mess it up for them self and others if a removable industrial bin was put in place when they opened the area to the over flow camping with signs up to inform self contained camping only for 72 hours would help to keep the ones that do the wrong thing no excuse to be there that’s what I have seen in a lot free camping area I have been to it seems to be working
Of the place is full, go somewhere else. No different to restaurants, entertainment venues, car parks none of which have an obligation to cater for latecomers
not Just backpackers do seasonal work on farms that don’t have accommodation on the property for workers is on of the big problems not only in WA but the whole of Australia. If farmers where allowed to supply seasonal accommodation this would solve half the problem of stealth camping
it is about time caravan parks stopped complaining that they are loosing business and think of all the other businesses that could benefit from extra people in the country towns
you don’t hear hotel or motels complaining about caravan parks putting cabins in place and depriving them of business WA needs to take a good hard look how the east coast businesses accommodate extra people in their areas of high demand for low cost or overnight leave no trace parking
Well said Mark. There is room for all of us.
Educating the councils, locals and the abusers that self-entitlement is the killer of community.
Leaving no trace doesn’t mean not having a footprint…
The main problem with illegal camping is the mess the offenders leave behind. On a trip over the Holland Track in WA we were shocked at the mess travellers left at the camp sites. Mainly defecating near or in the camp site.Many travellers these days are uneducated in the protocol of disposing of their rubbish etc. I am in favour of a dedicated overflow area with basic facilities for people who would otherwise illegally camp.
Basil , good point but I was educated as a child to dispose my (bodily) rubbish! I suggest : a no frills shower / toilet / dump point. The facilities would be accessed by a code , which travellers would get from a 1 300 number. At the same time give name , address, contact number and duration of stay. No details -no code! Caravan parks as for this all the time. Then put a donation box inside which could eventually pay for video surveillance outside.
Overflow camps rarely if ever have toilets and showers so how would that solve the problems of mess left behind
Too many grubs in society now days,could you imagine the state the showers and toilets would be in after a while. There are plenty that’d the right thing, yet there are many that are grubs and always will be,
So true Rod. I carry a cleaning kit when I go to public toilets to use before and after use.
One national park’s men’s toilet was foul. No brush! So in goes my hand with toilet paper then a cloth to clean it for sweetie…I’m a keeper? LOL.
bugger “overflow” – full time alternative to parks is essential if the Shire want to attract RV and caravanners that want to be independant. No doubt there’s some input here from the anti competition parks!
Generally speaking no facilities are necessary given the sophistication of even small vans. What’s the Shire mean by “Its not as easy as it seems”? Bloody beurocracy is an impediment and should be simplified.
William
I agree with you William. I read a book by John Singleton in the 1970’s the forward stated “Everything the Government touches turns to sh-t.” Nothing has changed in the following 54 years.
‘
Len , It sounds like all the free camps are going the same way…This problem needs an urgent fix and no amount of excuses is going to make it go away. Could the various caravan associations help?. This forum is excellent , but we reading it need to mobilise and get something happening!
There are many tourist hotspots that really don’t want any more tourists in their town, especially the kind often described as free loaders.
Quite correct Tony. The Dunsborough to Augusta stretch of coastline is a surfing mecca and attracts many types of people including those who lack respect. Unfortunately some people go there on ‘Tight As’ style holiday especially in certain towns. The more these towns have ‘given’ to the blow ins in the past the more their generosity has been abused. BTW I am not from the caves road area.
you are so right William. most nomads only want a quiet place to rest a caravan park is not that place. it’s noisy. and we don’t need bouncy castles and a playground. which boosts the fees.
Drive through tourism through regional areas should become a State(at least) responsibility. The State government certainly has lots to say on tourism over here in the West but their funding tends to be directed to high end hotel and resort, and “events” tourism attracting the overseas market, or to day trip visitors to places like in national parks. Witness eco-dunnies, gazebos and boardwalks.
Unfortunately the Shires and the locals(ratepayers) can never/ever possibly fund from Rates the facilities needed where, about 10 years ago, large parts of the Australian population suddenly got high speed-go anywhere vehicles and pull-up-and park anywhere take-your-own caravan accomodation.
Unintended consequence of disruptive (transportation) technology .
For ratepayers just wanting peace and quiet and no “blow-ins” – sorry – the world has moved on. City folks and backpackers aren’t going to be coming through in lesser numbers anytime soon. You don’t have to be a permanent resident to have a right to be somewhere in this country.
Even a former “Sleepy Hollow” country town somewhere along a highway route might now have lots travellers looking for a night or two base to just slow down and have a look around. They’ve seen all the big ticket destinations, they’re now looking for places they haven’t seen before. Places like the “Wheatbelt Way” over here in WA.
Many caravanners would be more than happy to pull up in the pub carpark out the back overnight, have a pub meal, have a chat with the publican, not have to drive after , and use the pub’s rustic outside loo for “number twos”.
The impasse between what are essentially small local business competitors is almost impossible to resolve by a local Shire. And Shires just can’t afford to build and operate tourism facilities without State govt help.
Cliff , I wonder if a “pre -fab” solution could solve the problem.If the volume of work was there, this should keep the price down and pre-fab construction saves on labour ad can be done out of the weather. I hate decreasing jobs , but locally labour would be required to do base prep and connect services – more work for the local tradies!
Well said Cliff. Examples of your philosophy being Kulin with a 72 hour free park supported by flushing loos and hot shower, also Watheroo Pub – power and water out the back, shower inside in exchange for frequenting the pub (biggest steak I have had in years).
Finally a logical thinker,
thank you Cliff.
Agree 100%
Loved staying at Kulin. Has what you have mentioned including cheapest fuel in the area.
When normal accommodation is full, there should always be alternative options available. Otherwise these towns might as well hang up a “ go away, we’re full” sign on the approaching roads and suffer the consequences of being branded as an unfriendly town.
What a load of defacation. Blow ins and overnighters don’t spend money in local shops and don’t contribute to the local economy. Most of them are just free loaders looking for a place to save money on fees and let the locals pick up the tab, and why should the locals have to pay for the freeloaders. 13 years ago the CMCA came to our coastal town wanting a free camp area for self contained travellers and we tried it for a year. The statistics we got from that trial was astonishing. Over 95% of 24 to 48 hour stayers didn’t spend squat in our town. They did however whinge about the price of things and whinge about the lack of facilities that were provided to them(they were free camping) so why do they expect facilities. As well, the amount of people who didn’t have on board shower and toilet was ridiculous. Wanting to stay for free for days, sometimes with kids as well and then complaining because showers and toilets weren’t provided. Those services cost money to operate and maintain. It was a joke, that after 12 months trial it got shut down to never be opened up in the town again. If all the free loaders across the country want free areas to stop and camp, I suggest that they all get together and open up their own yards and property and allow others like them to be able to stay on their property and free load off each other. That’s the solution to the problem, every town in Australia will have someone who believes that they should be allowed to stay wherever they want for free. So get all those people together and open up your own properties to those who think they should be allowed to stay for free and then they’d have a place in every town in Australia to camp. Simple really. But I bet those people won’t do it, because they’d be saying why should I let people stay for free on my property that I had to pay for and have to pay to maintain.
Bang on Big Dog. So many people want stuff for free but don’t contribute to local economies. The current generation expect everything to be handed to them on a platter.
Big Dog, there’s a 4 letter acronym you used that sums up why your lovely coastal town had a bad experience with free campers – that being CMCA. They want it their way, full stop.
We ALWAYS go out of our way to buy a paper, coffee or pie in the nearby town. If there’s a good local pub then we’re happy to buy a meal there too.
You are welcome to a tour of my self sufficient not self contained campervan, and unit, so I can do a show and tell of all the items I have bought in small towns across Australia.
Sorry not sorry but I can’t to prove to you that I spent money in your town or cleaned your public toilet before and after I used it.
Yes we all need to lift our game as being a courteous host is as important as being a considerate guest.
I’m a Margaret River local having lived here for 30 yrs.I also own a caravan and empathise with fellow travellers.
The AMRShire has got to be the most selfish in Western Australia.
Having a need for casual workers the Shire persecute at every opportunity.
Forget about parking as there is very over enthusiastic shire rangers ever ready to write up infringements.
The excessive fines could and should be used to help fellow travellers to overcome a lack of facilities. God forbid a free overnight park up zone.Perhaps some free water connection to fill up tanks.
This is the most unfriendly RV town in WA.
Thank you Anonymous Local for stating the facts without bias. I give Margaret River a miss these days for the reasons you mention although I love many other towns in the region. Recently when I took visiting friends from QLD on a tour of Margaret River they apologetically told me they felt the place was grossly over- rated. They couldn’t believe the town’s lack of fast food venues such as Star Bucks and similar others.
It is bewildering as Ravensthorpe Shire has been able to facilitate this service providing that the vans are completely self-sufficient, and the local businesses are most appreciative as it adds more income to them. I don’t know how complicated it is unless the local Caravan Parks are councilors and have the staff by the short and curlys and don’t have the testicular fortitude to act. Unless they are worried about backpackers rubbishing the area.
This seems to be another caravan park operators putting pressure on local government for their own benefit and not for the community. This selfish attitude will turn travelers away from these places to seek alternative locations which are more affordable. Park operators charge exorbitant fees for the privilege of parking your RV on a little plot and use some power and water. Yes, insurances and other costs have risen and all or most travelers will agree to have the use of clean facilities there is a cost.
Provision of low cost or free camping in the area will provide a benefit to businesses as travelers will have more money to spend at these businesses. This is a win win situation for all and local government should see this benefit. A small daily fee can be charged to use these overload sites and this can be policed electronically as other areas are now doing.
Being somewhat cynical do some of the local government council have a vested interest in caravan parks in the area. I know of one popular location in NSW where the daily cost for a showground site is only $2.00 less than the caravan park which a councilor has an interest in. Is this the case in Margaret River?
Gympie had a council caravan park in town and there is a private one out of town near a service station. The council closed theirs and put prefab cabins for the homeless. The one near the service station is full of permanents and looks a bit slummy. The huge show grounds are unused for travelers. If you are thinking of coming to Gympie to avail yourself of the many attractions in the area, KEEP DRIVING.
Of Coarse they Should There Losing Money Hand over Foot Where Do the People Stay that Cannot afford Caravan Parks But Want to Work or Nead to Work Grow up Council it’s Not all about The Rich Bitches there’s Other People out There
Wakeup caravan parks, you can’t accommodate us all, stop being so greedy with your pricing and stop the unfair practice of progressive pricing, shame on you!
There’s so many of us on the road, something has to be done.
We bring much needed trade to many a small town.
Most of us appreciate the services that your town and states provide immensely.
Those travelers that don’t give a shit and spoil and ruin it for the majority, WAKE UP TO YOURSELF.
You’re stuffing up a great country.
They should look at Tasmania – a lot of free or near free ($10 night per site) spots and the caravan parks are still going well. We are at the Golf club in Strahan – $10 a night and there would be 30 – 50 vans here every night – that’s a nice little income for a piece of grass that isn’t being used anyway! There is a dump point near town and water available at a few sites. The caravan Parks are full so it doesn’t affect them, obviously. All the little towns with a golf course, a rec/showgrounds should open up and do the same – not everyone wants or needs a caravan park – we are totally off grid for power and only need water every so often. We buy food, fuel and eat at the restuarants in these towns so is beneficial to all of the town, not just a caravan park, as we can’t afford to support both!
Overflow sites
Amazingly the same caravan park owners who install cabin after cabin (ie; less powered sites) don’t think twice about the business they take away from motels. Many of the large chains want it all ways – no free camps, cabins abound & less powered sites while getting the backing of local councils.
True. And some caravan parks do not have unpowered sites for our campervan but we can’t drive down the back to camp with the others in tents so we pay for power we don’t use.
Some caravan park managers do not know what a campervan is. So I ask if they know what a Kombi is…yes…well we have something similar but it’s a Hyundai iMax…lol.
If the caravan parks are full and there is no overflow camping provided it is obvious that businesses will not reap the benefits of the additional travellers. In saying that packpackers ( not all ) treat our country very very badly we see this often in our travels, they fish in non fishing areas they treat the ground as a toilet, they don’t want to pay for accommodation.
This not a easy fix but the more people that stay in a town the more chance the town will prosper.
Sadly we have found that to many grey nomads and other travellers winge and bitch about having to pay 5 dollars for use of facilities these facilities cost money and time to maintain so if anyone expects them to be provided for free they are deluding themselves.I have personally been told by people that a $10 refundable key deposit cost to much,I don’t know what part of refundable they don’t understand but they refused to stay for that reason.
Hospitality businesses rely on backpackers over the summer months and these people deserve somewhere decent and safe to stay without getting ripped off.
Yes the greynomads have a right but I feel that the younger generation needs to realise that campgrounds are for tourists not general car parks where everyone uses them designated camping spots should have very clear signs where they can camp
Landowners should be given approval to host visitors, win win
It is good for busines of the town, and for every one else.
Low cost overflow camping should be made available by shires. Whilst the usual minority will abuse the privilege as happens in all areas of humanity,, overall, per capital spend would would greater spread around the community, rather than spending an outrageous amount in a compulsory caravan park, which now usually goes to a big business.
Yes sure, they employ etc etc but I’m confident a majority of campers would rather spread the $ around. To the naysayers, yes of course you may not spend the $ 70 /day there but buying a couple of days supermarket supplies, putting 20 litres fuel in, a pie or coffee in the bakery, do the maths and it makes absolute sense rather than being yet another tourist scam which eventually destroys the reputation of the area.
Just look at central NSW and Qld coast
Rant over, can’t wait for the trolls
Yes they should help out. Build a toilet block.
I have used overflow sites and often it is the choice of stopping in that town and spending some money or move on to the next town. As for staying in caravan parks while doing a travelling style holiday, for one night, can you imagine someone arriving at 4pm and then paying approx. $50 for that one night in a small and tight caravan park site including the hassle of reverse parking my caravan into that small and tight site. Then unhitching. Then getting all the leads and hoses out and installing them to make use of the facilities. Then first thing in the morning pack up everything and leave before 10am. I choose to stay in Caravan Parks if I am staying for many days because the town or area has something to see or something to do but not for one night. Yes I would base in a caravan park or two in the Augusta Margaret River area (i.e. Caves Road) as there is heaps to do and see along Caves Road. I can appreciate both sides of the argument.
Maybe more smallish towns could learn from the Poochera Hotel & Caravan Park. Last time I was there the CP next to the pub was laid out for 1 nighters. Cheap but clean. Great food and and a coldie next door from the very friendly Pub owners.
Yep take away the tourism and you’ll be just another country town dieing a slow death. Used to stay overnight in Mt Barker till it shut down due to a park owner. Filled up fuel, great IGA to restock etc. Now I don’t stop there. Did a driving trip NZ south island last year, plenty of free overnight stopping yet accommodation is fully booked, shops are full etc. Dongara another fine example of foot shooting.
Yes ,Absolutely
Absolute rubish to complicated so you refuse to start easing the broblem stinks of money and coruption for sure time to vote em out
It rather sounds like AMR council are indicative of everything that is wrong with some local governments.
I agree with overflow in peak times. Iam a school teacher. Which means I can only go during peak times. It’s hard to book accommodation in these times
I have read a few of the comments and have found 1 common factor, the main argument is that it will increase the finances of businesses in the area. All about MONEY. No-one has raised the issue that in order to pamper to “blow ins” and their requirements for their comfort, a large portion of the natural fauna and flora will have to be “destroyed” in order to supply the facilities required by these travellers. This in turn reduces the appeal of the area, which in turn will see a reduction in visitors. The towns are then stuck with a large camping area that doesn’t see as much patronage as it once did. It seems to be the trend for the past few years, destroy the planets natural beauty, and in turn increase climate change, for a bigger bank account.
Yes there should be more dedicated camp sites
There seems to be more of an abundance of ignorant and arrogant a******s speeding through our town, particularly these last two years.
We dont need more attraction to our dwindling forests for any more selfish bush culling beach dune basing a******s!
Stop exploiting and destroying our backyard by cutting down the trees for more humans!!
Shut the bloody gate!!
yes they should the do buy food and fuel in town
yes, you don’t like off street parking, then we need to provide alternative support, or lose the local business
Why don’t Councils encourage farmers to use the provisions of the WA Caravan & Camping Act to allow caravans to stay on their properties for up to 72 hours?
I defiantly believe in over flow parks. Especially in peck sessions. Not everyone travelling is organised with pre booking.
At the moment we are making our way across for Perth to Tasmania. Some days we only want to travel 3or4 hours so we never know at what town that will be. We are not travelling in peck time, but still finding it hard to book into a van park for a night. If we have to we’ll stay in a free camp along the way and we are not backpackers by any means.
Example: pulled up at a lovely free camp that welcomed RV stayed by a grassy lagoon in Casterton VIC we had drinks and a meal at the pub $123, bought grocery’s and grog from the local store $98. Now you can’t tell me that the local business don’t mind us stopping in there town.
Yes everything should be done to encourage Aussies to holiday in Australia.
No to verflow for me
Most people get along nicely with others but you only need 1 bad group and it’s a nightmare
You need a site manager on-site 24/7 which won’t be covered
Fights, drunken behaviour, fires.
Where are you supposed to sleep if there is no accomidation,,overflow areas have to be offered in peak season .
If we cant find more camp sites in a place like WA — god help us … I have to laugh at the small towns and their ‘progress assoc’ who put in big efforts for more visitors — and then want to shut the gate or edit the influx ! Shut your real estate offices! Thats your number 1 problem. How about the outskirts of kalgoolie in winter — open up fossiking grounds — show where they are — all legal and something to do ! would that be ok?