A Queensland caravan park owner has hit out at council-sanctioned rest areas which he says have become de facto free camping spots and are spreading through Australia ‘like a disease’.
The manager of Gladstone’s Kin Kora Village, Monte Olsen, made the comments in reaction to recent claims that caravanners and motorhomers in the area had ‘nowhere to go’.
It was the member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd who stirred up a hornet’s nest when he said there were no real facilities for grey nomads in Gladstone.
“The closest thing we can say to them is to go out to the Calliope River or the Gladstone Showgrounds,” he told the Gladstone Observer. “Because those are the only two places we’ve got.”
But van park owners led by Mr Olsen have hit back, saying there is plenty of spare capacity in local van parks and there will be even more as LNG projects draw down and there are less workers staying.
“Maybe elected representatives for the people of Gladstone could support their local business and open up their eyes to what’s right in front of them,” Mr Olsen told the Observer. “Gladstone is a great place to live and welcomes visitors … it’s a pity our elected members aren’t sending visitors in the right direction.”
Several van park operators claim their businesses are being hurt by people staying for long periods in council-sanctioned rest stops instead of their parks.
“The term ‘rest area’ has changed over the last 10 years to ‘free camping’ and is spreading like a disease throughout this great country of ours,” Mr Olsen said.
There are currently three rest areas near Gladstone. They are Calliope River, Benaraby River, and Granite Creek.
Local van park owners also claim the council has been lax in policing a 48-hour rest limit at rest areas.
The council denies this, insisting it does enforce a time limit at the rest areas.
“Council local laws officers regularly patrol this area and this activity is supported by private security company during peak camping seasons,” Mayor Gail Sellers said in a statement.
Do you think rest areas are spreading ‘like a disease’? Do you stop overnight in rest areas? Do you think some campers flout the ‘24-hours only’, or ‘48-hour only’ camping regulations at many rest areas? Comment below.
Caravan parks are becoming just too expensive with a lot of gear we just don’t need. They grumble that free parks are taking away their income, but they have no regard for the motels who are missing out on income because of CP’s removing sites to install cabins. They are too greedy
We agree the Caravan Parks need to look at their cost to charge us to stay over in their parks, just to park on the grass for overnight stay and charge $30 or more in most cases is just not viable for caravaners
Some excellent comments. Trevor Lock said it well. Greed has consumed this country. We have paid our taxes all our lives and our children are each now paying buckets loads more tax than our double pension delivers us. This country belongs to us. If we want to park a caravan along the track for awhile then so we bloody well should and we will. Gees we are at the tail end of the dog, for goodness sake in this 1st world country give us some space.
Too right…. moteliers didn’t have a chance to object to the wholesale building of cabins in CVPs.. So to all CVP owner you will have to just cope with self contained RVs giving you a big miss. If they charged $8 pn + $4 for power pn (maybe only in the off season ) they could at least generate some extra cash when its quiet.
If caravan park owners were happy with $10 per night down in the back blocks without power we would gladly stay in a caravan Park. But $38 per night with pool, jumping castle, play ground when not needed is too much for a pensioner. We stay in rest areas and buy our goods in the town that is closest to say thank you.
I do hope they are spreading like a disease. Australia needs to welcome Grey Nomads, perhaps the van parks are missing out but the local economy would be benefiting.
I notice this whining Whining fool has not left or got an email address..Love to give him a Pay…….
Here we go again one particular group the Caravan Park owner’s dictating to all other business in the local area that rest area should be closed for the benefit, close them for one group and all the rest will suffer.
We have stopped at Calliope River, many time over the last ten years and we have seen it been policed nurmous time, the council are doing the job, maybe they need to re-open the river side that the only problem we can see here.
Where was this person with his head up his **** when there were NO SITES in Gladstone because they jumped on the mining bandwagon and made mega bucks even if the mines didn’t use the sites but still paid for them. I was speaking to one of the CP owners Sept last year who stated he had $5 million in the bank from the mine operators.
What about the rest of the businesses who rely on the travelling public? Are the CP owners going to subsidise the businesses who lost out because there was no customers because people bypassed Gladstone because there was no room at the CP’s.
Tell him to get a life and give people what they want which he obviously wasn;t doing when he used ALL his sites for the mining companies. It is a well known FACT that Gladstone had no accommodation when the mines were buying, now they are downsizing he wants legislation to force people to stay at his CP. NO WAY JOSE!!!!!!
yes they are greedy b……..
I live in Gladstone and these comments seem pretty close to what happened here with people who moved here for work were living out of their cars because their was nowhere for them to go.The showground was like a caravan city. Things are slowing down in town now and some people are happy to blame others for preventing them from being able to impose what the locals call the Gladstone Tax. Cheers Rick
Caravan parks also forget that the number of larger RVs and fifth weelers on the road is growing and their parks and sites are too small to fit us in. Of course we will go somewhere else. My ancestor faught in the wars so that I could choose where to spend my own money. I am adding them to my list of winging caravan parks that will now NEVER get my money. Is anybody else getting sick of them telling us what to do and where we should stay. Give us what we want in your parks and we might come. I hope free camps spread like the plague.
Totally with you on this.
Totally agree. Would love to have a list of towns to avoid. We support rv friendly towns .
when they start charging a reasonable price per night for pensioners $20 dollars would be fine we might go into the caravan parks, we are permanently on the road, pensioners and do not want all the fancy facilities, set a section aside for the likes of us, all we need is a site with power a slab would be nice but not essential, and clean amenities, not all grey nomads are well off some of us are pensioners,
we agree with you we try to stay at show grounds or free camp as we are also pensioners who are on the road all the time if van parks had a separate area that was cheap and had just a flat site with power and clean amenities we would stay their. These park owners who didn’t want us when the mining boom was in town now want us and want us to pay the same as the mine need to re think what is important
For years Gladstone caravan parks have not wanted to know grey nomad, and have not had many,if any sites for Travellers ,they have been full of construction workers paying inflated prices.
It’s no use whinging now, you made your bed lie in it !
Let’s hope ” the disease ” of 24 hour stops keeps spreading rapidly!
Here we go again… round and round we go. When will caravan parks get it…. they want it all…. well I for one hate staying in caravan parks, I do not owe them a living… get over your selves and start thinking about the future, change with the time and remodel you park and price structure to suit if you want the business…. it’s that simple! Most caravan parks are set up for families on holiday and that is fine, just work out what your market is and stick to that and stop expecting the whole of Australia to support just one type of business. You already get government money and some how managed to be classed as Tourism, pretty sure you have had enough handouts so leave the Grey Nomads alone and let them do their thing, they already paid their taxes so you could get government grants… I often wonder why England & America for many many years have produced most of their vans with showers & Toilers so much so that it is the norm, here the opposite is true, could this be a conspiracy!
The “free camps” at Calliope are policed, during the grey nomad season, sort of May to September, to make sure people do not overstay – security guards drive around and take down numbers – and they will move you on.
On the other side of the river – it is not official, I don’t think, so no real jurisdiction, and people seem to stay there for a long time.
We don’t mind caravan parks, but want value for money – stayed at one the other night $25 pn + you pay for power you use – our usage, with cooking, kettle, fan, computers and lights was under $1, so we didn’t get charged at all – fair!
Stayed at one in our nations capital, $46 pn – totally overpriced – she said “we are in peak” – I said when aren’t you and how much then? $36 – (the showgrounds weren’t open, or would have stayed there).
This pay for power thing is excellent – a reasonable flat rate, user pays power – you soon learn not to leave aircon on when you go out, when you are paying for it yourself!
i am a Vietnam veteran we have a park at Dareton in NSW which is about 25k from Wentworth you wouldnt believe it the park owner from Wentworth complained that we were taking business from him because we charge 20 dollars a night and are restricted by only taking veterand and x service personnel so the greed is not only in Qld
Caravan parks need to get a grip on their own profiteering there is no tax break when we buy a van we support many jobs manufacturing when we buy our rigs. I can rent a house with a fence and private front and back yard for less than what most van parks charge.. I refuse to pay that kind of money for a few square meters of unfenced land and have to supply the premises as well.
This caravan park owner is a joke! He filled his park with high paying miners as their bosses paid. Free sites opened up to facilitate vanners a place to stay and spend money in the town. Now he is complaining as he has a few sites spare and wants to fill them. Stay in the free camping sites and tell him to go get stuffed. I will never enter his over priced sites.
We visited Gladstone a couple of years ago, and tried three caravan parks in an attempt to find somewhere for the night. At the third attempt my husband was very rudely told by a young lady (I use the term lightly) that “We’re fully booked out by the mining companies, we’re not interested in tourists”. We will never return to Gladstone, and I wish the CP owners there a quick collapse of the mining industry.
I am a heavy vehicle driver when working and the government both federal and state require heavy vehicle driver to have REST STOPS at least 15 mins every 5 hours, so what would chances be of stopping an 18 wheeler or bigger at these caravan parks that are bitching about rest areas
I also wonder what motel owners thought about caravan parks putting in motel style cabins many years ago, I know what it did to a lot of motels, they are not open any longer
Why is it that this subject dominates this website. After all the venting, maybe we can get onto something different for a change. Beating up on CPs is a dull sport. Caravan Parks are expensive to build up or purchase, and they must make a return on their investment. No I am not a CP owner or operator.
True TBF, Caravan Parks are expensive to build or purchase and they must make a return on their investment. So are motels, B&Bs, Hostels, Supermarkets, Hair Salons ETC ETC but you don’t hear them whining about competition. Business decisions made to build or purchase anything depends on estimated returns ie. supply and demand. Business ventures of ANY sort are a risk. When it doesn’t work out there is no one else to blame but the business owner or operator, and in this case, certainly not us GNs. Does this CP owner think he’s a protected species and therefore WE and the Local Council (but not him) must do everything to keep him afloat . Not this little Black Duck!
There product is not being given away free, though is it?
I am a part owner of a caravan park and I could not agree less with this correspondent. As noted caravan parks have done very well from the mining and tourism industries recently and couldn’t have cared less about pensioners and grey nomads during that time. For goodness sake give people what they need, not jumping pillows and all sorts of facilities. Grey nomads just want to be able to tour the country on a pension that’s all. If I were to buy a small unit in Cairns, I don’t want to be told that I have to live at the Hilton hotel.
I’m not anti social but I just don’t want to stay in a caravan park, esp if it’s overcrowded. If I need their facilities (laundry etc) then I’m happy to pay for them.
Having only tented for a number of years, I have paid for one person, most times above $20, and the highest rate $40. When questioned the high price at a couple of Parks, “that was the price”. For safety sake I felt I didn’t have a choice. Now I have a self contained motorhome, I have spent the money at the Rest Areas!!! I have also ran a caravan park and individuals appear to want a lot of accessories, especially when there is no up market style park! So I guess we all can’t be pleased.
Look I don’t know what the CP’s are complaining about..
If they all got on the funded Bandwagon and rented out places to the mining company’s or even large contracts, why should they be complaining now that those same sources of revenue are getting less and less..
I spent 3month’s Living in Sydney working on 1 of the tunnel project’s..
I got a living away allowance of $650 per week..
Buy the time the job wound down I had reduced my living expenses to $250/week accommodation and $150 on meals and such.. so I made a Profit on the Allowance..
Where did the money go, into the local community..
The CP owners I bet they did not put the money into the community.. at least as small amount that they can..
I checked out the CP that is complain g about the rest area camper’s.. I doubt that they have many Spot’s that a Caravan or Motor-home could move into.. The CP is Small in size..
J
Psst I would be using one of the rest area to rest up and recharge the batteries[Myself] If I was driving thru..
I agree with comments caravan parks don’t wont GN when miners etc pay big $. I/we don’t need much just a place to park sleep
just greed really.
enjoy life
Caravan park owners just don’t get it. Not all want to be squeezed into their overpriced parks . Perhaps if they did the figures they would realise that a retired couple on the pension cannot pay between $300.00 and$400.00 per week for caravan parks.
What Ron said!
Was this Caravan Park owner whinging when McDonalds or Hungry Jacks moved into town and took away the business from the local hamburger shops or was that just called progress???
The hamburger shops had to then supply a better product than McDonnell’s to survive in business and the majority are still there today.
So, Mr Whinging Caravan Park owner, get with the times and supply a business that the travelling public wants.
We are sick of paying huge prices to be jammed into caravan parks. Its like living in the suburbs with 4 alumimum boxes jammed into a 15 metre square area.
If you think just shutting down rest areas will bring the travellers back to spend money at your park, then you are very much mistaken.
Which also means that your Local Council is very much out of touch with what’s needed in their area.
Shut’em’down, and we will just take our money to another town, that is happy to supply what we want at a reasonable price, so then all that towns business’s can grab a slice, not just a whinging caravan park owner!
The caravan park owners still don’t get it. They are not losing business from most free campers.
There are many like us who are fully self contained and wouldn’t stay in a caravan park EVER.
Many caravan parks won’t have us anyway because
A. We are too long with our car trailer 43′ and
B. We have an old cat.
Damn right, John Miner. I WILL NOT stay in caravan parks ever, as I don’t have a use for their overpriced facilities. The only outside requirement I have when travelling or holidaying is water, and I find that information centres and fuel outlets will pretty much always make some available. It only requires buying some fuel from a fuel outlet or making it known that you are shopping locally at an information centre.
Funny how the CP owner is only saying there are plenty of spare spaces
“saying there is plenty of spare capacity in local van parks and there will be even more as LNG projects draw down and there are less workers staying.” – we have tried to book into several CPs since March 2013 with our 27′ 5th Wheeler only to be told there isn’t room. There are so many CPs who have plonked dongas by the dozen in what were once roomy campsites. Greed has overtaken.
We should bombard the Gladstone Council with emails…..It can work My Sister works for a Council ( Admin) in Victoria and told me..Keep at them
I fully agree. You don’t have to be a novelist or whatever, just a quick email that says you are not happy with……(whatever it is). I do it all the time and often get a reply. BUT remember to also take the time to tell the various Councils that provide the free camps which you stay in, that you appreciate it, and if you have done so (which we all should do whenever possible), how much $$ you spent in their town – they love to hear this, but if we don’t tell them, how will they knowl? Just enter their Council name into Google and you’ll get ther email address.
Towns should wake up and use every opportunity to bring in the dollar.
There are always travelers that will use caravan parks for the convenience and amenities. There is a growing market for those who dont need the amenities. Just a dump point, garbage disposal and good water, they will pay a nominal sum for these, NOTE must not be packed in like sardines. A friendly cheap spot near a town would encourage travelers to wander in and spend. Park owners are ideally suited for this as mostly they are on the edge of town. A little bit of gray matter would help
Ok we often head down to Adelaide for medical reasons and stay at the highway one caravan park and really not on people are squeezed into the sites like sarden,s and every time we go down there is another price rise it is getting very annoying
If Caravan Parks want more Grey Nomads staying at their parks then market to THEIR needs as well as family needs where jumping castle are not a requirement of the Grey Nomads. I personally prefer free camping where I am not regimented and boxed in.
Friends of ours from Cairns stayed at a Sale Vic caravan park which cost a miserly $17/night plus power o/night of $0.79 and on another o/night a power cost of $2 as they used the air cond as it was very hot.
We are totally self sufficient and we really do not require the service ( expensive I might say) that the C.Park operators offer.
We only use the parks when we have to.
We have been great advocates for “Freedom Camping” and intend to push more so for greater facilities for like travellers.
We have written to a number of government bodies seeking more support for us Grey Nomads.
What ever the C.Park owners thinks he misses out on, other business in the region become the recipient of our extra cash.
One really hears of business complaining when they have opposition, but not the case with C.Parks.
Let the market forces decide what we want.
John Rodgers
We, the travelling Aussie tourist, do not like to stay in over priced, over rated caravan parks, offering facilities we do not need. That is the jumping castle, play grounds, swimming pools and nasty, unpleasant people like your self Mr. Olsen. We do how ever stay over in a van park, when and where the occasion suits our needs. But to be forced to utilise a van park by council or government legislation, I feel is unconstitutional. We live in DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY with freedom of speech, freedom to come and go as we please and freedom to rest where and when we choose. Intouch Just Pass’n Thru.
We, the travelling Aussie tourist, support the RV friendly towns that provide a rest area for our use, weather it be 24 or 48 hours.
We require fuel and groceries, bread and meat, all of which we purchase in the towns and villages where we stay.
Woolworths, Coles, Shell, Caltex and all other service providers DO NOT have legislation the force the consumer to patronise their business. Then why Mr. Olsen ?, do you feel the CCP lobby has a right to legislate against freedom camping. Intouch, again just Pass’n Thru.
we called into a caravan park in pt hedland last year to be told by the very rude manager that we tourist were not wanted in there park as they were catering for the miners we wonder what the would say now with the mines laying off people that is one of reasons we look for the free camp spots
Sounds like GMH & FORD & Toyota….. Take a pay cut and save the industry………. Greed applies not only in CP’s…… No sympathy from me…….. we will continue to free camp
Councils are illegal private corporations that are unrecognised by the Australian constitution, which states that intercourse amongst the states shall be absolutely free, so no one has the right to pervert justice and interfere with your rights. It’s our bloody country but it’s quickly becoming a police state where every freedom and good thing about our country is being attacked
What we are seeing here is a group of people like myself who have had enough of councils and those who complain to them and expect their dirty work to be done. The price of land that stops our grandkids from getting a house was pushed there by councils and greed. The cry here is a cry for real freedom that this country was built on. Why should it be illegal to park a vehicle anywhere just becasue you are sleeping in it. The national fatigue strategy says the best rest is a good nights sleep. Thats all I want. -an no I dont have to have it on the esplanade or on front of parliment house. Once a Jolly swagman CAMPED !?! really in Australia? Let the spirit of the swaggie roaming be free in all of us and lets fight with our dollar and email if we have to. After what Ive seen I dont want to go back to a CP EVER!
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled! WHAT!? a fire too? -gosh next thing they will be wanting free sheep too!
We are freedom campers too. Agree they are greedy. We spend our money where are welcome. We are pensioners Homehill is a great success story.