As residential blocks get smaller and smaller, the issue of where to keep the caravan when it’s not out on the open road is becoming an ever trickier one for many part-time grey nomads.
While some manage to squeeze their vans at the side of their homes or park them semi permanently on their driveways, others are going one step further in a bid to avoid storage costs.
The Gold Coast is one area where there has been a flood of complaints from people claiming their neighbours are basically ‘storing’ their unpowered vehicles free of charge on public roads.
However, boats, trailers and caravans could soon be effectively banned from being parked in Gold Coast streets under a radical plan designed to free up more kerbside parking for cars.
Broadbeach councillor Paul Taylor told the Gold Coast City Council that the issue was becoming a joke.
“We need those spaces,” he said. “The kerbside is not a storage place.”
The council has reacted by launching an investigation into how it deals with unpowered vehicles, and one possibility it is looking at is potentially limiting how long they can be parked in suburban areas to just one hour.
That would bring them in line with vehicles longer than 7.5 metres, such as buses and trucks, which can’t be parked on the side of Gold Coast roads for longer than 60 minutes.
“As far as I’m concerned, if you’ve got a boat, trailer or caravan – you either store it at home or in a storage shed … or leave the boat in the water,” Cr Taylor said.
Q. Do you think it’s wrong to ‘store’ a caravan on a public street for weeks or months at a time
* Park would be a better term than “store”.
A. No, as long as they are registered & not contravening any parking restrictions.
I agree with Andrew otherwise all registered vehicle should be banned in parking in the street
Agreed, however on saying that we pay a lot of money to register all vehicles powered or not and should be allowed to park in front of our own homes. We also pay exorbitant fees for rates which the councils do little for in exchange, let them park and don’t be jealous of those who have something that you don’t have.
I aint jealous of any van owner, but i hate them lowering the look of the neighbourhood. Keep them in your yard like i do with my vehocles
I agree that caravans, boats, long trailers etc should not be parked on public roads for weeks at a time, however limiting say a caravan to 60 mins is far too short a time. I would find it very difficult to pack our caravan within that time frame.
I park our van on our street for approximately 2 months at a time. This is not a problem as our street is very wide. Some Streets are not wide enough and this can be a problem.
Im told by all councils that its illegal to park any vehicle on nature strp and road side for any time period and that they will be cracking down on such a thing with fines applicable
If you park a truck overnight you will get fined. Most caravans an RV are the size of a truck and the same perking rules should apply
It’s inconsiderate to expect neighbours opposite a caravan, boat trailer, monster tradie utes etc to like the view especially if their yard/entertaining area looks directly at it. Paying rego is not a utility parking/storage fee and i don’t know anyone around my area who uses their caravan nore than once a year for 2 weeks max! They’re an eyesore and applause to any Council who can get them off the public streets!
I agree with your comments. In my area of Glen Osmond SA I have a front and back street frontage. The blocks are quite large but streets are narrow. I have my neighbour parking his motor home just short of over my driveway and the view from my house is dominated by this monstrosity. The irony of it all is that this fellow has a block close to 2000sqms and wide sweeping driveway. Plenty of room to park his motor home. Council is ineffectual.
I agree fully
I’m against not being able to leave my boat out front of my residence, it is registered and insured but unfortunately I do not have available space for it, my caravan is in paid storage so you whingers who say I’m getting free storage, think again.
Yep works well we have 8 parking spaces next to the beach all taken up with our Caravans. We have such fun watching family’s anger trying to get a park to go to the beach. Man up find a storage place.
Its like anything else, if you dont have room, dont buy the bloody thong
I think leaving caravans and trailers or boats for weeks parked on the public street is wrong but restricting these vehicles to one hour is ridiculous. If i arrive to visit for a few hours with friends then where do I park. I also think overnight or a couple of days is fine too but several weeks or ongoing no.
Just wondering if you are travelling with a caravan through the Gold Coast and want to shop then 60 minutes is not long to visit the shops or even visit doctor. Perhaps a time limit around shopping centres but it has to be a reasonable time frame. You should be able to leave your caravan if registered on the roadway in front of your house. What happens when you are leaving to go away and bring your vehicle from a storage depot then 60 minutes is definitely not long enough to pack it, clean it, add water etc.
What’s wrong, caravans pay registration just like cars do. We have paid storage for ours wouldn’t want it parked on the street where we live. Agrees with comments above he to pack a van, tell them there dreaming
One hour is too short. Most retirement villages allow 24-48 hours to park in front of your residence for the packing & unpacking the van & that is ample as well as fair. Maybe the caravan owners who whinge about the cost of storage, are the same ones who seek out free camping, no fees for National Parks, cheaper registration etc.
Simple..avoid the Gold Coast…go inland shop at the regional areas and help the bush people…!
We haven’t visited the Gold Coast for 20 years for this very reason. Far better places than the Gold Coast to see.
Registered car
Registered van or motor home
Parked on the street. What is the difference. People park cars in street for weeks.
Absolutely. In our neighbourhood people with perfectly good driveways don’t use them. It’s a game of dodge the cars in my street and those around me. Driveways empty. Caravans are registered, therefore should be allowed to park out the front of your house. If stored, rego should be cheaper.
The issue of street parking has to be addressed in a manner which contributes to an ultimate resolution by Councils that allows for sensible street parking but also recognises that as streets and residential land sizes decrease then permanent parking of large vehicles cannot continue. I often see situations where a garbage truck cannot pick up bins because of selfish parking. Parking on nature strips for 24-48 hours seems reasonable for most loading/unloading situations, and unfortunately if there is no room inside the residential boundary then alternative storage will need to be found. Councils should seriously consider providing cost effective storage/parking for boats, caravans, etc. before implementing draconian measures including fines which will only serve to provide copy for Current Affairs and further erode the public view of incompetent Councils.
Well said!
You must be joking. How is the Council – and by extension, the ratepayers, responsible for subsidising the lifestyle choice of caravan owners? A caravan is a privilege, chosen for holidays and recreation. A car is something used for every day life and for many people a necessity. I would be appalled to find my Council using my hard earned rates cash to subsidise caravan storage for residents.
We parked our caravan on the grass in front of our house but council came round and said that we should park on the road because it was a registered vehicle, even though our street is quite narrow!!
One hour is not long enough to pack or unpack the caravan.
Avoid the silly cities and silly rules.
Move country and rural. No silly nonsense
Simple ,if you `v`e got a caravan /boat etc get a big enough house with the land to store it . I expect the street parkers are the first to moan when it gets easily pinched ,more than likely havn`t told the ins.co that it is actually parked on the street all the time ,and the payout is declined .The street is a thoroughfare NOT a carpark
We are lucky we don’t have to park our van on the street. However we do have to contend with someone who insists on parking 3 or 4 furniture removal vans in a row. This is a problem because you cannot see anything when you pull out of our street.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE????
If the thing is registered van has as much rights as a car. You should have a right to park your van close to your house. Howver it is a different matter for non domestic such as a van hire business. Simply instal parking permits such as zones you apply to council for permit and people without a permit have one or two hour parking
I support the regulation of the time allowed. If it’s ok for some it’s ok for everyone. So next time you visit the beach and want to park you car and take the family to the beach you may just find all spaces taken with caravans. Let’s all do it. Why are we so selfish.
We pay for storage for our van. Not cheap, but it is undercover and secure, monitored. We bring it home to pack before headinng off and when returning. It is on the street for that time. Our neighbour park cars for days on end in our street; not theirs but ones due to be repaired. Why they don’t take them to their business premises I don’t know. A nearby business uses the street to store their excess cars for weeks. These rules need to apply to all. We park our cars in our garage; safer and that’s what the garage is for. I’m amazed by people who have 2 car garages, use them sa ‘sheds’ and park their cars in the street.
Someone complained to council about our van at home on the council’s grass strip. They gave us two weeks to move it,we ended up putting in a concrete slab on our property to solve the problem.
Concentrate on the thousands of push bikes and certain motorised scooters being registered rather than forcing probably retirees who can little afford the exorbitant fees charged by these storage places. If the owner of any vehicle pays registration to be on the road then so be it.
To the people who believe a registered van/boat should be allowed to be parked indefinitly on a street, this would allow anyone to park their van/boat directly outside your house. In Victoria anyone can park their registered car outside your house indefinitly, local parking regulations permitting. Would you want your neighbours caravan there?
Times are a changing or they already have and councils don’t want trucks, vans or the like left out in the street. I will declare a vested interest here as we are mum and dad operators of Strongroom Caravan Storage here in Melbourne. What’s happening is identical to many parts of the western world; we are just a bit behind the others. Blocks are much smaller, as is the space at home to keep our vans at home with us. RV storage facilities are cropping up to accommodate this growing need and this can include not just indoor storage but a new class of off site man cave, where owners spend their time instead of in their garage as they did in the past. (I remember dad often loved a beer whilst staring at our old Viscount Royal. He never said anything but my guess in retrospect is that he was always planning our next trip) Unfortunately, finding large warehouses in the metro areas of any capital city, at a price which makes such businesses viable, is also becoming increasingly difficult. I expect that when what is available now diminishes, van owners will be forced to pay a premium for any such space. That will also see the end of family operators as only the big multi-national storage operators will have the funds to buy/rent such sites.
Overegulated over governed australia next we will be taxed for breathing
I fully agree Alan, Reminds me of a Bee Gees Song Where living in a World of Fools. Cheers John.
As a traveller on the road more towns are forbidding caravans from parking in their streets near shopping areas up to a kilometre away, this makes these towns very unattractive to stop at and spend money at. I am mobility impaired, so a walk of a kilometre to buy a coffee or lunch is impossible. I don’t mind a time limit of an hour, but most have a total ban from stopping, 1 town that springs to mind is Brunswick Heads. If you don’t know the layout of the town you spend a lot of time driving around with caravan in tow. Also if I want to visit friends , I don’t know where I can park, maybe a very short stop, Hello , haven’t seen you for years, Goodbye my times up.
We had a caravan parked directly opposite our driveway for 3 years. Reversing our car with a trailer around this caravan was a complete pain, but we got on well with the owner. He has moved and gone is the old van. However, he paid the rego and now we have scaffolding trailers parked in the street. I don’t think much said here is going to change anything, but why pay for road registration for a vehicle that spends only 1 month in 6 on the road. Maybe we should just be able to have rego 1 month at a time.
That is your choice to use the vehicle infrequently and not a basis for a reduced registration. Having a caravan is a privilege.
What’s everyone’s thoughts on a school bus now turned claimed motor home ( since May 2020 till now ) build n changed in the driveway ( yes noise complaints as it’s in a rental house ) currently now LIVING in the bus on the driveway??? Power and water hooked to the rental
House in suberbia. Plus 3 cars 3 trailers , bus and cars out front on council land….. question illegal??? No I haven’t contacted the local council… no one has in the street
It depends on the local Council regulations but it is likely it is possible it would be in breach of local by-laws. Talk to your Council.
The gold coast council should get $0 dollars from the registration of Caravans and boats if they stop these registered vehicles from using the road . That is why we pay rego in the first place. This country is absolutely being fucked by every council passing there own laws and regulations like little dictator’s. The average person has no idea what he can and can’t do . There should be one set of laws and one level of laws Australia wide . Crime ,roads, fishing, building regulations etc.
I pay my rates, my van isn’t excessively large (18 feet) so why shouldn’t I be able to park it out the front of my house in a residential area? Just why does council need those spaces? What difference is there to my parking my car in the garage at night but bringing it out and parking it at the kerb all day.
Would you park your van in front of a neighbour house for weeks/months at a time?
Not trying to be sarcastic at all…Just curious to know your view?
Off street parking was a big factor for us when buying our home. Van is on the large council strip which goes back a fair way and not blocking anyone’s view. (In theory it’s not meant to be there.) Otherwise into storage it would go, quite an expense.
Previously had no issue with people parking their vans or boats on their driveways or in front of their own house. What annoys me is when people selfishly park their boats or vans in front of neighbours properties for weeks on end in narrow suburban streets. This is now happening to us and the response from our neighbour is “it’s legally parked”. It’s very inconsiderate and selfish. As you can’t count on everyone doing the considerate thing, my view is that if you buy the toys have somewhere private to store them. I completely disagree with people who say they are the same as cars. Most cars come and go and aren’t parked in the one spot for weeks or months. By using the street to store your belongings you are effectively commandeering an “exclusive parking spot” on public roads. A day or two I can wear… however weeks/months is a total joke and 100% selfish. Be a good neighbour and store your belongings on your own property or at offsite storage!!
Here! Here! Bea.
Yes and a yes well it dose not cost them any thing Iam over it council do a big fat Oooooooooooo I pay my rates do they humm food for thought????????????????
Is it wrong to block half the foot path with a caravan
Definitely wrong,I have a neighbour permanently parking a large caravan in front of his house ,right up next to my driveway,it is a narrow street and lots of kids around ,i cant see well enough to back out my driveway safely. Very selfish , obviously rich people,think they have the right to do whatever they like .