While many grey nomads bemoan what they see as a chronic shortage of affordable camping options in much of WA, one south coast community appears to be bucking the trend … to a point.
The Shire of Ravensthorpe, located approximately 190 kilometres west of Esperance, has just endorsed its Recreational Vehicle (RV) Friendly Policy.
The Shire says it welcomes RV travellers and hopes to continue to attract them to the region by increasing the number of free camping locations.
The Ravensthorpe 48-hour camp will stay at its current site on the corner of Morgans Street and Queen Street. Three new official free Shire Approved Overnight Rest Areas will be created at Fitzgerald, Kundip and Munglinup, bringing the total of official free camp locations offered by the Shire of Ravensthorpe to four.
The current free RV 48-hour site in Hopetoun will be relocated PIC: Shire of Ravensthorpe
However, the existing 48-hour RV camp in Hopetoun – which is about 50 kilometres from Ravensthorpe – will be relocated to within, or adjacent to a caravan park operator. It is understood there may be discounted sites on offer there for $15 a night rather than being free.
Shire President Tom Major said it was important to offer travellers a range of free or low-cost locations.
“There was community opposition to the current Hopetoun free camp location and, while we could have removed it altogether, we decided to relocate it and to work with the Hopetoun Beachside Caravan Park,” he said.
He told the ABC the council wanted to move the existing 48-hour free site to next to one of the town’s caravan parks as it was a better location.
“We want to keep our RV-friendly status for the town, so we need a free, or low-cost option … there will be a low-cost option, but it may not necessarily be free,” he said. “We have to strike a balance … I think this policy does the best to strike a balance between offering good options to travellers, supporting local businesses, and making it amenable for residents.”
Cr Major told the ABC said the community had raised concerns about the location of the free camping area in Hopetoun on a road joining the main street.
Issues raised included safety with its proximity to traffic and rubbish dumping, including toilet paper and human waste left in the surrounding bushland.
He said there was a risk the town might lose some visitors by removing Hopetoun’s free campsite, but the council wanted to grow the number of visitors from low-cost budget travellers to higher-yielding visitors.
The mayor stressed that local businesses clearly benefitted from more travellers coming through. The new draft policy was widely promoted for public review and 19 written responses were received with a wide range of viewpoints, some supporting free camping and others calling for the removal of Shire free camping sites.
A number of submissions made the point of differentiating between Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun as visitor destinations, suggesting the two towns take different approaches to free camp locations.
Cr Major said it was important to treat the two towns differently as they attract different travellers.
“Hopetoun is a destination while Ravensthorpe is a thoroughfare and we want to capture people stopping in Ravy as much as possible,” he said. “We also reviewed the public consultation submissions and the support for keeping Ravensthorpe a 48-hour camp in the current location was clearly evident.”
The Shire will now seek appropriate approvals and advice to begin the process of relocating the Hopetoun 48-hour free camp to a new location within or adjacent to the Hopetoun Beachside Caravan Park.
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I have stayed at Hoptoun which was just fantastic, we loved being able to walk through to he beach for fishing. This area I thought said ‘For Self Contained Vehicles Only’ ….I just don’t believe that the Calibre of these people would be leaving mess behind like that has been reported. When we were there, there was lots of smaller type smoosh bangs there, they were definitely not self contained. These areas need to have a booking system in place and a lost cost attached.
Definitely would visit a. Hopetoun now if the price is better, should be more towns in the regional areas doing the same to attract tourists. Ravi is a great place to visit & stope over between Perth & Esperance. But don’t just stop & camp go into town & meet to locals over a coffee & a pub meal
I have stayed at the Hopetoun free camp in the past and was aware at that time there were objections to the camp. When we stayed there were quite a few campers there and all were self contained. It makes me wonder when towns who attract tourists to a free camp decide to cut off the option and lose valuable passing trade. Many many travellers are on a tight budget and these towns are extremely attractive and all these travellers still have to purchase fuel and food and have the occasional repairs made. Sad that a minority of whingers put a stop to free camping here.
Re: Ravensthorpe Shire Free Camp at Hopetoun
Previously when we have finished working in the Munglinup area 60 kms from Hopetoun we would travel out of our way to the Hopetoun free camp for a night.
we would wash our caravan and car at the car wash, support the local shops, especially Simons Cafe and go to the Port Hotel for our evening meal. Each time the ranger has come and checked that we were self contained.
We won’t bother going there when we finish up this year we will go straight to Esperance and maybe spend our money there.
Hopetoun is a small town that is really struggling with the mine closures and will be greatly affected by this decision.
Yes we have also stayed and paid at the caravan park in Hopey when we wanted to spend more than 1 night there.