Another local council has announced a major crackdown on the parking of caravans, boats and trailers on suburban streets.
The Douglas Shire in northern Queensland says there has been a rise in those sorts of vehicles being left on local roads … and it’s eager to stamp it out.
The council says that, while it might seem harmless to leave your boat, trailer, or caravan parked out front for a few days, it can create bigger issues for the community.
Caravans parked on residential streets are a common sight. PIC: CIzza
It warns it is also against the law and it will be on the watch and could be issuing fines.
“If you own a boat, trailer or caravan, please ensure it is stored on your property,” the council said. “No space at home? You’ll need to look for private alternatives, such as paying for a storage shed, arranging space on private land or exploring local storage facilities designed for vessels and trailers.”
It says these options keep our streets safer, clearer, and more welcoming for everyone.
Under Douglas Shire Local Law 4, it is illegal to leave a boat, trailer or caravan that isn’t being towed by a vehicle on any local government‑controlled road or area.
The council believes unattended vessels and trailers may create traffic and pedestrian hazards; reduce the availability of parking for other road users; clutter the streetscape and impact the look and feel of neighbourhoods.
It seems like the acceptability – or not – of the long-term parking of caravans and boat trailers on suburban streets is quickly becoming a hot button issue in towns and cities across the country.
The surge in the number of registered RVs, combined with shrinking block sizes, and often full and pricey vehicle storage facilities has created a perfect storm for travellers who are not actually on the road.
The problem is not everyone is thrilled by the prospect of having even legally parked RVs on their streets on a semi-permanent basis.
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All good provided stourige is not too expensive don’t mind paying a little extra for under cover storage
NIMBY behavior by precious people.
In a carport off the road of course.
Hire a caravan/boat/trailer when you want one, that way you’re not paying through the nose for yearly overheads and you also don’t pay for any recovery bills if something goes wrong.
You also get the benefit of a new or relatively new unit.
Your Car can park on your Street and it’s Registered,why Not your Caravan it’s REGISTERED “”??
Because it would be over 7.5 metres or 4.5 tonne in weight, which is the same in a lot of Local Government Areas. If I can’t see past your caravan getting out of my driveway and I hit another vehicle, you’ll be dealing with my insurance company because of your road hazard. Park your toy in your driveway or store it, don’t inconvenience your neighbours for your convenience.
Garry 7.5m and 4.5T is big, why not 4M and 1.5T
Well said Garry.
Would never leave my expensive investment on the roadside. Needs to be in use or in a secure area.
Which Law? Unless the state government creates state law changes linked to the registration of vehicles. Then councils need to give better reasons for parking restrictions. Granted some owners just clutter streets without enough curb space. Protruding into transit lane is not acceptable one suggestion.
Trevor, I think you need to consider how you would feel if somebody parked their transport vehicle or 24 foot caravan adjacent to your driveway.
When your vision is blocked for you to enter or exit your driveway and it’s not your rig parked there, how would you feel then? You would be looking for any law to debar people doing what you think is right in this instance.
If you can afford a $100,000 + caravan you can afford to pay to get it stored somewhere.
I have a poptop which is parked in my driveway, as is my car. If you want a caravan or boat then have somewhere to park it or store it. If your “Toy” blocks my view from getting out of my driveway and I hit someone because I couldn’t see past your toy, then you’ll be dealing with mine and the other person’s insurance company, as you can bet I’ll have photos, including registration number of the hazard, and it will also be reported to council.
The Gatekeeper
Council reduced the size of our building blocks to privide more income through and services etc
to the pont where you cant access your yard to park off the street.
That’s simple, buy a bigger block or don’t buy a caravan/boat
I have a sub 4.5 tonne and under 7.5m in length motorhome and I park it on the street in front of my house. There are no driveways on this street frontage so it’s not a problem for people entering the road from private property.
We own a MH that requires an LR License, so is a reasonable size. We rent a storage space in a purpose built RV and boat storage facility, but it is 45 minutes drive away. When we need to get maintenance on the house part or the truck part, or to prepare for a trip, we park it in front of of our house for the day or so involved. All legal, but we are aware that it is a big vehicle on a residential street. We inform our neighbours and try to minimise it being in our street. Commonsense.
THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE DEVEPERS MAKING STREET TOO NARROW THERE SHOULD BE WIDE ENOUGHT TO PARK ON BOTH SIDES AS WELL AS TWO LAINS TO BE USFULL
Exactly! Developers make narrow streets to build more houses on smaller blocks and its all approved by councils because they get more money in rates!
Neither developers nor councils care about the folk who have to live in these extremely narrow gutted streets!
They are only interested in MONEY!
They are both governed by greed!
They never upgrade services to these massive estates.
Never include parking for visiting or kids cars or your caravan, trailer or Sunday drive toy! All they care about is their salary increases!
Unfortunately there is no answer to this as they will only get worse!
Who can afford $65 to $100 a week to store their van that they’ve worked hard for years to buy!
Councils Stink!
Or: “The problem is with the Developers making streets too narrow. They should be wide enough to park on both sides as well as two lanes of traffic.”
When we bought our caravan three years ago we knew that it was going to be too big to park on the road in front of the house and with no way to park it on the property storage was the only solution, we knew that beforehand but our storage is a little bit different from the normal storage. With approval from our local council we had it at our home location for a few months for the initial setup and a few additional bits to add for the first road trip. We went to Tasmania for six months then left the caravan there in a storage depot. As we didn’t get to do all of the things in the six months we went back there last year to complete the trip and then brought the caravan back to the mainland and went over to SA, found another caravan storage facility and left it there, we will be back there next month to do some more traveling around SA for three or four months before putting the caravan back into the storage facility. It saves us dragging the caravan back and forth from NSW so leaving it in different locations that we will be visiting works well for us and it will be a long time before it gets back to NSW and being in a secure storage facility makes the insurance policy so much cheaper when we’re not travelling. This works for us and traveling for home and back is also great as we see other places on the way and do cabin stays.
Good to know. Another town I’ll avoid on my travels! Not that I’ve ever camped illegally but your attitude toward homeless people is enough for me to avoid staying in your town. I’ll take my business where it’s welcome.
how can that council law, over rule State Law? If a vehicle is registered, it can be legally parked on the road. My mother used to park her van on the street, and the neighbour complained to the police, who said it was legal as it was roadworthy and registered. This was some time ago. So unless that law has been changed their council laws do not apply. Does anyone have any more up to date legal advice on the matter?
Check the Council by-laws. They are pretty powerful
If a vehicle is registered and insured there is no legal reason that it cannot be parked on the street.
On my property at the back of my driveway.
You need to be able to park on the street after you return from your trip away. 2 days to unload clean and take it back to storage
We park our van in the driveway, and we are able to use it to sometimes sleep and eat in it, as if we are away somewhere.
On a concrete pad in my front yard
So will small Pantech trucks be banned.