A council on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has stepped up its efforts to get illegal campers off its streets yet again, with increased fines for offenders.
Noosa Council has voted to increase the fine for people overstaying parking time limits from $83 to $125. It has also doubled the fine for parking in a disability parking space from $333 to $667; and raised the penalty for illegally parking in loading zones from $126 to $166.
Acting Local Laws and Environmental Health Manager Clint Irwin said Council received 38 properly made submissions during the 21-day public consultation on the proposed changes.
“Around half of the submissions clearly supported higher fines to improve compliance … this support was particularly evident among residents that have been affected by overstaying, misuse of disability spaces and illegal overnight camping,” Mr Irwin said.
Last year, Noosa Council introduced timed parking at Noosa Spit in a bid to reduce the number of camping vehicles staying overnight. PIC: Noosa Council.
“While some raised concerns about cost-of-living impacts, the reality is fines only apply when rules are ignored.”
Mr Irwin said the could reinvest any extra revenue from the larger fines into future traffic improvement initiatives and enforcement efforts.
“Ideally, these fines will act as a deterrent. If people do the right thing, we won’t see an increase in revenue – just better compliance and fairer access for all.”
The new fines are expected to take effect within the next month.
In recent years, Noosa Council has taken a series of steps to deter illegal campers.
Late last year, it introduced four-hour time limits at areas Noosa Spit, which had previously allowed unlimited parking between 4am and 10pm.
At the time, Mr Irwin said the community has made council aware of damage to the environment associated with illegal camping.
“This is unacceptable to council,” he said. “So we will continue to undertake frequent parking and camping patrols to ensure compliance with parking regulations and local laws.”
And back in 2023, Noosa’s Director of Development and Regulation, Richard MacGillivray, said the council had increased patrols all over the shire, particularly targeting car parks which had become hotspots for campervan gatherings.
“With campers getting together, drinking and getting rowdy there are safety issues for the public and our Local Laws Officers, as well as the impact of the mess and food waste being left behind, which poses a threat to our native flora and fauna,” he said at the time. “The vans are monopolising parking spaces into the morning so others can’t park there, and our natural areas are even being used as toilets.”
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We think that it should be double that amount.
We recently stayed on the Capricorn Coast for two months, there were caravans & motorhomes staying overnight in almost every carpark.
…a ridiculous comment. People travel around, that’s what they do.
I agree that fines should be issued on the spot. There are far too many out there who flaunt the rules and are ruining our wonderful countryside. If you can afford a caravan you can afford to pay for a campsite.
Good on the council. There is a nice donation/ paid camp out of town. Personally I’m sick of the backpackers
Federal laws require a driver to rest for 14 hours each 24 hours and state laws should respect this with a 14 hour minimum time before issuing a fine. 14 hours is resting and more than 14 hours is camping.
In other words, you’re saying free overnight camping (sorry, ‘resting^) should be allowed everywhere for everyone?
No, you said that, I am saying a driver should be able to park and rest in any convenient place for 14 hours of rest in any 24 hour period, in order to make our roads safer for everybody to use.
That is only for heavy vehicle drivers,not the general public.
Only woke, selfish self-opinionated communities would follow this line instead of answering the demand with provision of facilities. Poox on Noosa!!
NIMBY’s. Who probably camped during passed holidays before becoming residents. Same thing happened on the Gold Coast in the 80’s. tourists became residents and residents then complained about tourists taking up all of the parking in Surfers.
I am against people over staying in carparks and other parking areas when passing through a town. It is selfish and creates bad feelings against those who are Fair Dinkum Gray Nomads on their Visiting trips around a our Great Country. I would not be against Councils introducing Wheel Locks and charging a large fee timed by the hour of over stay to remove the lock. If after a given time no effort to have the wheel lock removed and the fine payed, the vehicle be towed to a holding yard until the fine is paid and a release from the holding yard paid. This may be excessive, but the councils are dealing with people who will not listen to reason and need a wake up call.The up side of this is if the inconsiderate Camper decides to avoid the towns doing this and doesn’t spend their money there, it is a bonus for the decent and considerate travelers and the local citizens.
Hey Kenneth, I bet you are not against these folk who visit your town, park and spend their money to help keep stores and other facilities open so townies do not have to travel miles to shop, etc.