A Queensland council’s plan to make it easier for landholders to host multiple caravans and motorhomes on their properties has come under fire from local caravan park owners.
The Tablelands Regional Council (TRC) last week posted a proposed planning scheme amendment that aimed to ‘cut red tape for small-scale RV and short-term accommodation’ on certain sites within the TRC area.
“The changes generally allow up to six self-contained RVs on-site at any one time without a development permit providing certain conditions are complied with,” the proposal said.
The ABC reports that council documents also revealed that, in some areas, 20 self-contained vehicles will be able to stay without a development approval, but they must be on a site that is two hectares or larger.
The maximum length of stay would be ‘13 consecutive nights in the Rural Zone (Agricultural Investigation and Broad Hectare Precincts) and six consecutive nights in all other relevant zones’.
Mayor Rod Marti told the ABC that that people had until February 16 to have their say on the idea.
“We are trying to build up our capacity in rural precincts to take RVs on their properties without creating a lot of red tape,” he said. “We have had an enormous influx of RVs and people wanting to stay on properties and we are trying to see if we can make some minor amendments to make that easier.”
Mr Marti said that if the new proposal were to go through, he did not believe it would hurt local caravan park owners financially.
“There is a benefit to the community if we allow RVs and caravans to stay in the region for longer,” he said. “This proposal is only for RVs and fully self-contained vehicles therefore landholders will not need to install shower, waste, or toilet facilities … we need to change with the times, and this is an example of council being agile.”
However, van park owners in the area disagree and say the council move is particularly poorly timed, given that they are still suffering from a Covid-inspired downturn.
Eleven local caravan park operators came together recently to discuss the council idea, and said they were wondering why they would keep paying to keep their caravan park operating if the council was just going to allow anybody to open a mini caravan park.
Lake Tinaroo Holiday Park owner Lachlan Farquharsan told the ABC that operators were furious at what they believed were underhand tactics by the council.
“Not one person from council told us they were considering this and none of the local caravan park operators have received any notice from the council,” he said. “They are trying to attract a market that we are already providing for and none of the caravan parks in the region are ever at 100% capacity.”
Mr Farquharson said the local parks would be hurt financially if local landholders opened their own mini caravan parks.
“Of course, they are going to be cheaper, they won’t have to jump through the financial hoops or pay the fees or charges that we have to,” he told the ABC. “They won’t have any overheads or facilities and they won’t even need people on site.”
He warned that they council move could have also have negative environmental impact ‘if people just start dumping their waste anywhere’.
“At least we offer waste dump facilities,” he said.
The Tablelands Regional Council isn’t the first local authority to move in the direction. Last month, Queensland’s Gympie Regional Council agreed to double the number of caravans, tents or cabins allowed on a private property without a development application approval.
This will put some caravan parks out of business. The overhead costs & permits & insurance will not apply to the “private property” van sites.
Under any circumstances property owners will need public liability insurance asa minimum.
Perhaps. It will make the van parks more competitive rather than gouging the traveling public as they are now
Have you asked the caravan park owners what overheads they have? For example creating employment for local people by cleaning, mowing, repairs, office assistance. Also often stiff council charges including excess water use.
No one forces them to raise prices or take on the business that they thought may make them millionares overnight!
This action is one excellent move by regional councils – there is approximately 24,000 new RV manufactured over last 12 months in Australia and over 17,000 imported. With over 850,000 registered RV owners in Australia the councils consideration to make room for more short term overnight stays is a great move and should be welcomed by the industry. We need more progressive councils to increase the capacity to build wealth in regional towns, which is where these visitors will spend their $. My message to councils is to keep moving forward and open the market – great work. Free Camps Book – number 13 has over 5000 free camps and overnight stays…
Great idea, they are covering two different markets. We go away to enjoy the bush and not be camped on top of the next van in a caravan park. This will give the freedom campers what they want and brings more campers to the district that would otherwise drive by.
Well Said!
It’s simply called competition. Maybe caravan park owners need to do a review on their methods and what they offer. Including things like No Refunds no matter what the reason, asking for full payment up front etc.
It’s not fair competition if one person has gained Development Approval at an enormous cost to themselves and family. Yet the farm down the road hasn’t had to pay anything. So it’s not competition. One landowner has an unfair advantage than the other landowner.
Is it fair competetion for Pubs and motels that are in the sane catagory for accomadation? No wonder there are more pubs offering camping on their land for the price of a coupke of beers or a meal!!
I agree with Grazza.
If they can offer cheaper fees why not. More space for a lot more nomads. More money to spend locally. We have stayed at many caravan parks and the presentation is the same but has different prices. Caravan parks should look at what they are presenting and charge accordingly to the market. Look at the charges on offer from caravan parks in the same town .if ground is the same. Same price. Seting up on dirt. Should be cheaper.
Many people simply cannot afford to stay every night in a caravan park, the fees are quite high in some cases. If I couldn’t stay in a mixture of caravan parks and lower fee sites,, I wouldn’t be travelling as much, so te CPs wouldn’t get my business.
I agree with Gazza too..
Stingy Park owners/operators don’t have a grasp or any idea on the versatility, needs and requirements of travellers/nomads.
People will still go to Van parks..more now than ever..!
The others will free camp or bush camp on private property.
You only have to look at HipCamp to see the wide range of opportunities for those who don’t need Van Parks..
Yahoo..! Go the bush campers…
At last the caravan parks that apply ‘sardine can’ policy of campers on top of each other and grubby dirt sites worn out to buggery (we have all paid $40+ for that bullsh*t) will be effected by the new rules and will likely lead to better parks. Its about time fire safety rules were properly applied in sardine can parks and sites are separated by 4-5m so when a fire goes off we have some chance of survival. The UK has fire rules for separation, so should we. We simply try not to stay in any sardine can caravan park and will look elsewhere and only come back to them if its the only option. If we find a nice farmstay we often stay longer in the area spending more $.
If I wrote 3000 words, I couldn’t agree more. After travelling 11,000 Kms last year, I found most Van Parks in Qld, where there was almost no Covid, to be over priced, under cleaned, particularly camp kitchens & amenity blocks. Not to mention cramped in like sardines.!!
Too dangerous, Van park owners spend Million providing safe and secure Infrastructure.
Would love to see your documented evidence to your claim of “too dangerous”.
BS pure and simple.
Better to put caravan parks with cabins out of business first as they are not caravan parks,
They are taking away business from hotels and motels who have rooms vacant,
It seams to me that by stealth caravan parks have got away with a lot for to long, if you say caravan park then be a caravan park, not a cabin park,
Spot on comment, being saying this for years, cabins are not budget accommodation for the average family.
I agree Spot on comment, being saying this for years. Shouldn’t be allowed to have cabins within 20km of motels etc. Maybe further.
Then this council doesnt have a caravan park owner on Council to block this proposal. What about CP’s that put in cabins and take business from Motels.
Good idea, as have camped on farms stays down here a fair bit, but in our case the farm stays have had facilities, as we are not self contained. No c,van parks complained as well, so it must just be the greedy QLD businesses up there. that don’t want competition. The farmstays we have stayed at have some beautiful country, that was previously locked up, not open to the public. It is a good idea, just wish it was for all campers.
Not only qld c/park in nsw price gouging is rampant
Funny how cp owners don’t mind moving into and taking away motel business instead of staying as their title states, Caravan Parks!!
After being forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to gain and comply with Development Approvals, now the local Councils are stiffing the legitimate operators who have to comply with all the regulations. Not fair. Not right. Mayor should be ashamed of himself.
It no longer pays to do the right thing.
Slee Lee, Caravan parks need to move with the times as hotels did when motels came along taking away their accommodation facilities, as caravan parks again came along and took away the motel businesses accommodation when they started to put in cabins.
Constantly hear the “poor caravan parks” story but has anyone followed the CIAA reports over the past ten years or so and you will see constant reports of record, production, high occupancy rate etc, etc, etc. If the parks are doing so bad why is it that Large Park Groups, motoring clubs, superannuation funds, private investors are sinking millions into buying and developing parks. If the park business was so bad smart business people would not be investing in a poor return business. Twenty years ago there was an estimated 330000 registered RVs, today there are over 800,000. Anyone who tried to get into a park in Qld last winter, in spite of Covid will understand how the industry is booming.
Businesses like nrma don’t get heavily invested in c/parks unless it is very
Profitable. NRMA PARKS are some of the most expensive.
Council need to supply toilet dump sites close by
Perhaps it is the Caravan Parks that need to change as more and more campers are only in need of basic facilities and not all the extra razmataz. We have a hard floor camper and all we need is some ground and perhaps a loo. We travel all about Australia and the cost to stay in van parks is far in excess of what we can afford for what we basically require. Our money is used in the community in which we stay with admissions, food and fuel.Its not only about RV either as many travelers use camper trailers now which in the main are just as good as motorhomes but do not have grey water storage.
I agree with Gordon and Louis, the parks are now finding out what it was like for the motel/hotel businesses when they started to put cabins in, they can’t have it all their own way
Suck it up caravan parks.
We (2) adult fully self sufficient pensioners who travel in the ultimate old school and low impact RV a 1975 Volkswagen Kombi equipped with porta-loo. We are religious about take/ in-take out. We are short stayers mostly overnight, rarely longer than 3 nights and rarely seek a powered site. Our preference is for free-camps but they are getting scarce and even if available usually very crowded. BUT WE ALSO OBSERVE THAT PARK MANAGERS ARE NOT OVERLY TRAVELER, UNPOWERED OR SHORT STAY FRIENDLY. What we do object to is being asked to pay between $50 and $90 a night for one unpowered site that is usually far from toilet and shower facilities for which we have no need. That $50 – $90 charge for ‘overnight parking’ is not simply excessive and the whole ‘Park’ registration process is inconvenient for genuine travelers and short-stayers. We see more value spending $50-$90 for a meal in the local community than paying that amount as an o/n parking fee that should be charged at no more than $20.
I think this is a great move by council living on the road full time we are always looking for cheap or free camp. Caravan parks have gotten so expensive Spence Covid and there is no longer any benefit to travelling off season as the rates stay the same. I can honestly say when we stay in free camps or cheap camps we spend much longer in an area or town and we spend more. I am more likely to buy take out or go to a cafe if I am staying free or cheep. If we have to pay for a van park it cost me anything from $30 up in most places and then I tend not to go out I will use the washing machine in my van rather than go to the laundry because I am already paying so much for power and water and I will cook on-site rather than go out to recoup what I have spent. More free camping means more money in towns. Van parks will still prosper as people and families how go for annual holiday will always support them and what they have on offer. I truly believe that a lot of van parks have taken advantage of people not being able to go overseas and have jacked prices up to high. This puts full time nomads in a position where they just don’t spend in a town because they are spending so much on accommodation or the simply move on from a town to a place they can free or cheep camp
When we owned a Motel in Busselton, 2000 -2005, nobody gave a rats arse about the caravan parks putting up cabins and taking a slice of our pie. Nobody cared in the winter months when the resorts down the road dropped their overnight prices during the week to match ours. The raised theirs for weekends and the summer months but we could only go up so far. Caravan parks here in Busselton are charging upwards of $100 per night for a family of 4 during January for a powered site, and people pay because its their annual holiday.
The reason we love caravanning is to get away from crowds and and enjoy nature as it is. Some of the most lovely places to camp are locked away on private landholdings. I’m all for opening up private land to caravanners. In 8 years of caravanning we may have stayed at a caravan 6 times and could not wait to get away from them. In Rockhampton a local Caravan Park took Council to court over a free camp and won. To Councils credit they went back and amended a local law and re-instated the free camp.
This is the same Councils that EXTORTS the land taxes from operators of the caravan parks. Now they want to relax laws regarding private stays by Caravaning Nomads to by pass caravan park. Governments are grubs, they lie & wheel & deal on everything. Only fuelled by stinking greed & self preservation. Its not the fault of these caravan park owners charging these ridiculous fees they have to. But the average Joe’s like us we can’t afford these ridiculous fees that are being charged to live with some dignity on our travellers.
The grub Government win all round who ever they play each other against.
I doubt whether it will make a difference. There are those who will only stay in caravan parks and those that prefer the alternative. We free or budget camp whenever we can but if need to stay in a caravan park choose the cheapest no frills park
I think there is room for all. I like caravan parks for their facilities and safety, but I also occasionally stay at free camps, with little facilities. With more nomads hitting the road instead of travelling overseas, I think we need the options. And the towns will benefit from our stays.
Caravan parks doing it tough because of covid? I think not! We travelled from WA and spent July and August touring Queensland and getting a site in a caravan park was extremely difficult. In some parks we could spend a night or two on one site in a park and then have to move to another site within the same park to complete our stay. More due to poor management.
Caravan Parks have been ripping us, the traveling public, off for years. Now do like it that they have competition.
I agree completely to be able to park on someone else’s private land. Some of the caravan park fees are so out of control and getting worse and you often pay big money because the parks have jumping castles and expensive childrens activities that a lot of us single nomads have to pay for. And why can’t people that have land have people come and stay ? I am all for it.
I have a 36 foot RV, fully self contained, I park my Coach in the next street from the main street, You wouldnt even know Im in it,
I wander thru the town and see the whole town, spending money as I go, food, entertainment, parts, diesel, meals, What ever, If Im on the road, I just park on the side of it, A level spot is all I need, Two hours, Stationary, I can take a roast out of the oven, Black tank lasts about a fortnight, I empty that in a dump point in a town that has one, My grey water rinses out the hose that the black tank uses, They also get my spending money for the Priveledge, I pay for the Tourist facilitys in the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges as part of my rates where I live when not travelling, I dont use the tourist facilitys where I live, That I am paying for, So I dont feel like I am freeloading on other councils, As for Caravan parks, I never use them any way, I cant stand being close to people like that, Sardines in an over priced park,
Awesome idea and will help farmers to earn a better living in drought times. I hate staying in Caravan parks so crowded living on top of each other. Putting up with some peoples crap.
On a farm it’s much more aesthetically pleasing more young people can experience how our food is grown other perspectives on how hard farmers work to provide us with sustenance.
We have stayed on a couple of farmed one on the Atherton tablelands and it really catered for people even had a nature reserve and river huge campfire shed and bush kitchen.
Forward thinking Council love the idea.
I can see the benefits of this proposal. We are fully self contained only need somewhere to park in towns we visit. Paying $70 plus dollars for a place to park overnight is outrageous and not sustainable. We prefer to use those dollars going out to dinner or tourist attractions.
I wonder when the caravan parks are going to be taken to task for setting up “mini motels”? It seems to me that caravan park owners want their cake and eat it too (no surprise there). Caravan parks have been encroaching upon motel accommodation for years and nothing has been said about that. Caravan park owners are greedy. They don’t think about the rest of their local community, especially other small businesses. They want their businesses protected at the expense of the majority of other small businesses. I thought this was the era of free enterprise and open markets? Not whaen it comes to caravan parks, that’s for sure.
Hats of to councils that allow this.
IT’S ABOUT TIME THAT CARAVAN PARKS BECAME RELEVANT TO PEOPLE’S NEEDS.
Gray nomads DON’T WANT ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES.
AND CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF we are not rolling in $$$$$
Bruce Davidson
My wife and I are retired,we have a 7 Metre fully self contained RV,it is well set up for the two of us. We are fully self contained with cassette toilet & grey water tanks for the shower & sink.
We have solar panels for the 12 volt, 24 volt & 240 volt power on board by way of batteries & an invertor.
All we & many we have meet like us require is a safe place to park up for the night & be on our way.
We shipped our RV to New Zealand for two years travel of the North & South Islands.
We joined the Motor Home Association, which owns fully fenced safe places for members to park overnight throughout both Islands, $5 per night each.
Most councils also provided RV only parking on the waterfronts, beside parks, and even main street in some towns.
Nice to see the councils here moving in the same direction.
This is a great idea, it’s a similar situation with the taxis and Uber.
We enjoy the solitude and are self sufficient.
Pubs have the right idea offering free accommodation, if you choose to have a beer and a meal , so be it, most people do I would imagine.
I don’t know why Caravan park owners are annoyed about private land parking, not long ago came back to the Gold Coast from Bowen rang a number of parks on the way to book in all we got was sorry we are booked out
This should be a wake up call for c/parks who are charging exorbitant prices, some in excess of $150 per night.
How can they justify these charges just because its holiday season.
This model c/parks use flies in the face of all normal business practices, where the more product you sell the cheaper that item becomes. They are exploiting new and seasoned travellers.
When is this discussion going to end??? Not all caravanners wish to be crammed into caravan parks or take advantage of jumping pillows etc. Many caravan owners have spent a significant amount of money to be able to travel fully off grid because that is their preferred choice of camping. . Caravan parks will not attract this type of traveller. We love the low cost a freedom camping options, Showgrounds are another popular choice, also pub camping. We make sure to spend our dollars in the towns that provide what we need. Caravan park fees have become unaffordable for many, Hip Camp is also unaffordable in many instances. We prefer to support the little country towns and beautiful spots that we stop at. It is fairly widely known that the towns that provide freedom and low cost camping thrive from the business created.