The growing number of free and budget campsites that are being restricted to use by self-contained vehicles only is continuing to spark an angry backlash.
A South Australian council has become the latest to take the controversial step, which effectively locks out budget travellers in rigs without ensuite facilities, and the homeless.
The Adelaide Advertiser reports that five District Council of Grant campsites have been added to the list of places which ‘prohibit a person from camping or erecting a tent’.
It says however that groups of tents are still allowed to use the sites, as long as someone in the group has a self-contained unit.
Sorry ... but if you're not self-contained, you can't stay! PIC: Cizza
The council’s Chief Executive, Darryl Whicker, said the it did not want to ‘compete with other low-cost accommodation’ as they had more ‘appropriate amenities for more traditional camping’.
Mr Whicker said seven new free camping sites added to the region would provide ‘positive economic benefits and tourism opportunities’.
“These sites are best suited for self-contained camping, as they are in exposed areas without shelter or amenities,” he said.
And, speaking to ABC South East, the authority’s acting director of environment services, Aaron Price, said there were also environmental concerns to consider.
“What we’re wary of is that some of these sites have got birdlife and from a vegetation point of view are quite sensitive,” he said. “So, we’re not really wanting any wastewater and grey water to remain on those sites.”
However, the chair of Australian Regional Tourism, Coralie Bell, told the Adelaide Advertiser that the new policy would certainly affect the number of people who travel on a budget.
“Not everyone has enough money to have a big fancy campervan,” she said.
Ms Bell said free campsites need strong waste and grey water infrastructure as most travellers do the right thing if supported.
The move also left Tanya Knight, the manager of Mount Gambier Aussie Disposals, absolutely fuming.
“It’s going kill tourism here — you look at a lot of your free camping spots in Victoria they all have toilets,” she told the Adelaide Advertiser. “South Australia’s too closed up with their camping.”
And she said those who travel on a tight budget often don’t have the money to spend for a ‘$80 campsite’, but will spend their money and contribute to the local economy.
I have travelled in a number of states and territories. I often go to National Parks. I can contain my grey water and have asked a number of national parks rangers if I can put my grey water around trees and they have no problem with it.
Agree Ross with grey water I can’t see a problem with grey water still out the west and a lot of places still have grey water running out on to there vegie gardens and as kid we eat for 20 yrs and it kills lawn grubs so whats the problem
Discrimination! We don’t have a shower onboard so will skip through SA. And spend as little as possible. Been on the road 5 1/2 years. This is unfair. It will just widen the gap between the haves and have nots.
Travel across the Nullabor and all the spots are covered in toilet paper and worse.
Hi Peter our recent experience coming across the Nullabor has been the same. Toilet paper everywhere and faeces as well. Some people are just grots without a thought for those following. If you need to go in the bush please dig a hole and then cover it up. Not hard.
You are so right Peter B. Not only camping sites but just the pull over day rest areas are covered with faeces and used paper blowing everywhere, would hate to see what their homes/yards look like
Drop toilets .. shires have that ability ..rubbish. .. as well but everyone needs to help
You are spot on Helen. Apparrantly SA Govt don’t want our Tourism Dollar.
There is a very good reason the self contained issue has arisen. Can I politely suggest you open your eyes a see for yourself and adapt accordingly, its not hard and does not cost a fortune if you try!!
Does not cost a fortune? The price jump from tents to a damn motor home doesn’t cost a fortune? I think you need to take out your silver spoon.
Given the state many people carelessly leave some pristine camping sites in, I am totally in favour of clamping down on the few that ruin it for others by leaving smelly puddles of grey water and mounds of used toilet paper blowing around.
It isn’t expensive to buy a basic pop up tent and use a portaloo to do your business in to empty elsewhere thoughtfully or at a Dump Point…as well as to catch grey water in a bucket or container to be disposed of elsewhere if need be.
I don’t understand the comment from the Manager of Mount Gambier Aussie Disposals’ comment that by demanding campers’ be more responsible for their own human waste that it will “kill Tourism”…really?
When tent camping we always had a pop up tent and a portaloo, and caught the grey water…we now have a self contained van so we CAN visit some of those insensate areas that require self sufficiency and grey water containment…
Dean, agree with the terrible state some people leave some camp sites. However, being self Contained is much stricter that what you quoted. It’s not possible to be self contained when tent camping, or most camper trailers and some caravans for that matter.
Agree Sid. We tent camp (all gear contained in dual cab Ute), have a portable toilet and shower/toilet instant up privacy tent, always leave our site cleaner and clearer than we found it and use legitimate grey/black water dumpsites. Under these quoted rules we would be denied entry.
Tenters can save their grey water. It’s called a couple of 20 litre empty containers.
Agree with Dean, we have been camping for years both in a tent and a camper trailer without facilities and it has never been a problem. It just requires a bit more effort.
My interpretation of the Mount Gambier comment is that external set ups, such as the porta loo/tent, are not permitted. Similar to a lot of campers, mine is a pop top with the external tent/porta loo combo and whilst I am conscious of the envriroment and take out whatever I take in – with no exception, I am excluded from camping in some areas.
Sadly the money spent on a van or whether or not it has internal facilities, does not dictate how people will treat their surrondings.
I have witnessed some pretty thoughtless behavior, including dumping waste from a loo canister in a national park. On another occasion a fellow emptied his black waste into the gutter [no drain] of a very busy peak season van park that had a dump point. Who would do that! Again, whilst free camping on a private property [via Wikicamps] the majority of van owners emptied their black waste [chemicals included] into the most pristine basin that was home to so much life. I reported that incident which concluded in the owner closing his property to visitors.
Back to my point, situationally unaware, selfish, careless people are who they regardless of their toys, money, life style.
If people are going to want amenities, then these sites are not going to be free, common sense, different demographics need different setups, that’s OK, stop trying to fit everyone in one box
I agree that if no toilet or grey water facilities it’s not available. If you look around sand hills of Byron Bay some spits are terrible. They free camp in the dunes and toilet there too. awful. It’s not $80 a night to camp anywhere. It can’t be that hard to put in a drop pit composting toilet.
Definitely if there is no facilities.Self contained only
Council should erect at least toilets as our selves and others in traditional camping and Caravans can enjoy all of our country , because we do put a lot of money into these small towns as we travel , and it would give the opportunity to stay longer and enjoy towns more
I am sure the local ratepayers will appreciate the additional costs involved. Incidentally ALL visitors put money into the local economy, not just free campers.
But really where do they dispose of or go for toilet in my travels I have seen what happens when people travel with no facility’s and there are none provided Brown and white butterfly’s we call it everywhere.season3d travellers will know what I mean. They don’t even carry a shovel to bury the waste came across some backpackers once in a station wagon asked them how do you get on for toilet reply was we just go in the bush. As for grey water what happened we had to run it on trees in drought, as grey water stored becomes black waterin toxicities I believe
I can well understand the reasons for this! Free campers should be required to take out whatever they bring in, including toilet waste if there are no onsite toilets supplied. It’s not only the low income and homeless using those sites. A fair number of campers who use the areas are quite capable of paying for proper sites with facilities.
To be self sufficient you just need a portaloo and water bladders/tanks, one for grey water. Don’t get the folk saying that anyone is being marginalised because they can’t afford a self-contained expensive rig. Load of codswallop from an entitled bunch I reckon.
I think everyone should define “Self Contained” before commenting.
Literally means “leave no trace”.. NOT you must have a $200k set up with everything a house has got.
If they are free camp sites they should be open to anyone. Not everyone has the same set up. So if it’s a tent, swag, motor home, caravan etc it shouldn’t matter. People do spend money in the local town/area if they are staying there & we dont want theses buisneses to miss out on sales.
Have you ever considered that by the free campers leaving their waste cause the Council to clean it up (at a cost) and then that cost has to be passed on (local businesses through rates), so your comment about local business support is a little………….?
And like the council’s aren’t profiting from campers!! You must be kidding me right?
In W.A. campsites for self-contained rigs mostly have no facilities, hence you need to have your own shower, toilet and grey water tank. You should not be allowed to camp in places that have no toilet facilities unless you have your own porta-loo. The utter mess left behind in the bush by (mostly) tenters and whizz-bangers is disgraceful and a health hazard. Porta loos cost about $150, if you can afford to go camping then you can afford one. (Homeless issue is of course completely different.)
I find that comment completely discriminatory.
Totally understand this approach. Where we are at present along the Murray River is digusting with people pooing and leaving used toilet paper on the ground. Not even attempts to dig and cover. I pick up my dogs poo and would happily poo in one of their bags if needed, so can’t understand why others just leave their poo to spoil the environment for others.
Well as an owner of a camper tent, it is getting harder to find place to camp all over OZ, we bring a porta potty anyway, and a shower although shower water does go on the ground. We keep away from waterways, and camp away from the crowd. Because of these restrictions we mainly stealth camp in woop woop, so we can at least get away.
It’s is discriminatory.. I understand why… but honestly I wouldn’t want numerous friends or family using our porta loo if I were free camping with rules like that. Fair enough to stop Grey water on the ground and digging ( one would hope) a hole to toilet.. We had the self containment dilemma in Tassie a few years ago. We opted to take tent and no van but found we were very limited in free camping sites or in pub camps due to not being self contained( did actually have the porta Potti in one room in tent) Many people would not be able to travel at all if they had to pay mega dollars each night for a park. It’s discriminatory but understandable as well. A hard one
Normally I would say yes to self contained RVs, but with the housing crisis and homeless people everywhere I think councils should take a different view on things. People need somewhere to live until they find a house. Maybe portable toilets.
Yes it is discrimination but also some of the people using these camp sites do not leave it as they should . But there are those that do . Must continue to ask people to keep our bushland pristine ,by taking all rubbish out and try not to disturb the land too much .
I have lived in S.A. for 60 yrs and have always said a lot of the places I have been to do not like people who Free Camp.I remember stopping in one Town in the S.East and I asked where a F/’C.was and was told the only place was in the C/Park.where I could Pay our move on
I don’t travel with a tent but people who travel with a camper trailer could travel with a portapotti and a container of water and be quite capable of “leaving no trace” by taking black and grey water away to a dump point when overnighting etc. Making these sort of hard and fast rules won’t make any difference to the disrespectful campers
We do just that all the time and it’s not a hassle. Finding a dump point is sometimes though.
Exactly. And some of these disrespectful ones are in $200k rigs with a priveliged attitude..
It would help if there was one clear and fixed definition throughout the country of what constitutes “self contained”
Totally agree. Just the replys show a lot have no idea what self contained means, no you don’t need a shower. Also people seem to blame anyone not in an sc caravan as the problem.
LEAVE NO TRACE! Has nothing to do with how you camp. Councils and the CMCA make rules to suit themselves that have nothing to do with equality for all and everything to do with discrimination.
This containing your own grey water as being self contained is ridiculous. Councils are all jumping on this bandwagon with no research to back up what they’re doing. The waste water does not kill the vegetation, it infact helps it grow. As long as it’s the recommended distance from waterways, running water onto the trees should not be a problem. Retaining grey water so it becomes black water is the problem. It grows bacteria in the confined container and then is only safe to put in dump points. This means dump points that need to be emptied are filling up faster and requiring to be emptied more often. Many cp will not allow emptying of grey water for this reason. Councils need to take a good hard look and ask themselves why are they insisting people contain their grey water.
If you use environmentally friendly dishwashing liquid to wash your dishes , there is absolutely no reason why you can’t water vegetation with it. The same goes for a quick body wash down. In the driest state on the driest continent it make no sense to carry it away. (don’t councils water with grey water anyway)
I should know, I’ve lived in Qld where all our water (except the loo) went straight out on the garden and we had green lawn and the best vegies and raised 4 healthy kids on those vegies.
However, you need some kind of a toilet, it’s bad enough treading in a dog poop but a human one yuck. It’s not hard to set yourself up with a loo tent and even a loo seat with a plastic bag, I personally use poo powder and take my bodly functions away. I book into a caravan park every 3 or 4 days for a shower.
Unfortunately, regardless of people’s financial situation and there kind of set up there will always be people who do not understand the principle of TAKE ONLY PHOTOS LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS
Self-contained should be those with their own cooking facilities their own chemical toilet and own shower able to hold grey water Wether it be in caravan camper or tent this is absolutely achievable with all forms
Why the need for a shower? We have a portaloo and a fitted grey water tank. When camping off grid we wash with a bucket and a wash cloth and empty the water down the sink into the grey water tank. Even if we had a shower, limited water would mean we would still use the bucket on a shower cubicle.
So I am a bicycle camper as well, using a tent, carrying my dog in his trailer, so I should be carrying a portapotty , a 20 litre gerry for the waste water as well Buddy, is this what you expect me and hikers to do?
Next thing you know we’ll be putting nappies on kangaroos, wombats & possums.
These areas aren’t pristine wilderness they are free camping areas.
Do the so called self contained brigade hack into the surrounding bush & light a campfire?
Native animals don’t use toilet paper. Are you suggesting we copy them, or possibly lick ourselves clean like my cats? Just because they aren’t pristine wilderness doesn’t mean that I want them to end up like cow paddocks covered with crap.
Human faeces contains pathogens that faeces from kangaroos, wombats & possums does not contain. Human faeces (and dog faeces) is very nasty stuff. It needs to be buried or put into a sewerage system.
Such a shame. My beef with this that grey water has to be contained. This also restricts caravaners like us who have an ensuite, are self contained but don’t have a grey water tank fitted. Happy to catch it and dispose of it properly but no, this is not good enough. Our caravan is 7 years old and we bought it brand new and have never had an option of a grey water tank.
very easy to fit grey water tank.
thought about fitting a grey water tank then the weight issue happens so i would be illegal when it was full along with other water tank
water comes out of fresh tank into grey tank, when full empty grey tank no extra weight.
That should be good enough!
Another issue where we leap straight from identifying the problem into dictating the solution.
If the problem is waste management, then there are a range of options which we can deploy to address that, one of which is to be self contained. Others are the provision of toilets as with any other popular public park, or providing alternative camp sites that are not in sensitive areas. Fines for those who do the wrong thing is another. Limiting numbers to a level which the environment can support is yet another. Just need to think a bit..
Out of interest, are the councils demanding “self contained” providing readily accessible dump points so that the waste collected at that site can be disposed of in a more appropriate manner, or are they just making it someone else’s problem?
It’s not as simple as most folks seem to think it is. Life is full of choices. Hotel or motel? BnB or tent? Campground or free camp? Whatever choice there are rules and expectations. Our society runs on rules. Some rules we like and some we don’t like. Someone in a $100k self contained camper v a $130k 4×4 and tent. Discrimination based on vehicle? How do we know if the campervan owner even has a house? How do we know if the tenter owns a million dollar house?
Councils have rules. Love them or hate them they must be followed.
BUT does the tent or motorhome drop the rubbish? Or is it the user? Regardless of what is used or what the rules are it’s people that are the problem.
Well they have lost me I will take my money elsewhere and I have seen these sc people open the grey water tap and drive off down the road
Just go to North West Western Australia. They have the most free camping I have seen. It is really good. They leave the rest of Australia wanting. One place I remember even had two dump points.
I totally agree with this decision because with so many people on the road travelling without self contained facilities people are soiling the environment with human waste. If they dig a hole, burn the paper and then cover the hole well ok but my recent experience says they don’t. We were at a historical location in the NT on private property and 4 camper vans came in together, each had two adults and 2 children and no facilities between them so that meant that 16 people had to go into the low scrubby bush and not one carried a small shovel only toilet paper. It won’t be long before this camping area will be closed.
We will by pass a town if they dont have low or no cost camping, the next town will benefit from our spending, also 20 hrs max hardly gives time to look & spend
Travelling consistently for the best of each year, we would use self contained RV sites most of the time and as most travellers do, are very careful to ensure that we follow the rules relating to these camps.
Unfortunately one of the downsides is that some owners of vehicles that do not have self contained facilities on board abuse the system.
I’m not referring to not having a fixed shower or Grey water containment on board, how often one showers is an individual choice and grey water containment is easily solved with a bucket, but the lack of toilet facilities is a different matter.
We Pursue an activity known as Geocaching, that is basically containers hidden and tracked down with a GPS unit, most rest areas will have a Geocache placed nearby, often this entails strolling off into the surrounds of a camp site to locate it,
This is where we also often come across the masses of toilet paper that people have left behind, often this mess blows back into the campsite area.
Regarding town short stay stopovers, many of them do not have a toilet facility within it or if they do have one nearby they are frequently locked at night.
I fully agree with the self contained policy and we will lose the hard fought for RV friendly 24/48 hour areas that the CMCA has had to go through hoops and barrels if council red tape to achieve.
We have a caravan with toilet etc. but I think it is disgusting that tents etc are not allowed to use these sites. Surely if they dispose of their waste appropriately there shouldn’t be a problem. We used to tent it and only as we have got older have a van. We couldn’t afford caravan site fees every night so why should other people have to pay . Oh and I am a South Australian
Agreed.
I have always travelled light eg small van .. take your rubbish away and look after the site more so now with fuel prices.
Personally I have no problem with this. Having spent many nights free camping over the years, many (not all) campers leave areas of scrub around the area in a truly disgusting state with faeces and toilet paper (and other ‘things’) just left there.
Free camp areas should at least have long drop toilets as most do in Vic
What is it? 20 years since the cmca (in their usual overbearing manner) made it pretty clear that being self-contained was going to be required. And yet we still have the same whingers complaining that they shouldn’t have to follow some basic health and environmental rules so and they are being sorely discriminated against. What is really needed is better policing of rules so the rest of us don’t get blamed for the (in)actions of those who insist on sh**ing in others’ nests
I think this concept is a great idea. It’s about time consideration for the environment comes before peoples petty whinging!
Disposal of grey water is really up to landholder and their rules. You can always go somewhere else. There are many options between free and $80 per night.
However, EVERY CAMPER should have a portable toilet. Digging holes and leaving waste and toilet paper all over the place should not be allowed anywhere.
A portable toilet is less than the cost of a weekend camping so I don’t see how this is discriminatory. If the campsite you want to use doesn’t have the facilities you want then move on.
Porta loo’s are too bulky.. and it all ends up the same way.. in a dump point so why not a good self-sealing bucket?
I understand why councils are doing this, to save money. The irony is that the community would be happy to pay something. Imagine if everyone contributed only one dollar? There are a million plus caravans in Australia.
Without basics, people are then push to do the wrong thing.
Even the neglected truckies that serve our country have ridiculously poor services.
Toilets, water and dump points are a basic for all who travel.
There is a lot more travellers need to consider. Councils carry a considerable cost to install toilets, and dump points, with infrastructure to contain the clean water and waste water. ( Try pricing the cost to buy and install a composting system) Often these are vandalised by inconsiderate troublemakers. But it is the ongoing costs to service and maintain them with weekly visits, at the very minimum, to clean and make repairs, needing a truck and plumber to travel some distance from a town. Travellers complain if not clean, or “smell”. Of course these toilets smell!
Providing rubbish bins is another problem for them. As a free camp becomes more popular with literally hundreds of vans in the height of a season, several skip bins are needed. And visitors still continue to leave huge bags of rubbish beside the bins.
Councils in this area now have to rely on private contractors to drive often hundreds of kms on a run between towns. (WA) Should the local taxpayers foot this bill? If you lived in that shire would you be happy?
So we should be prepared to contribute to these costs. Low cost camping with seasonal volunteer caretakers may be a better way to go. If you can afford the fuel and food for camping you CAN afford to pay something per day .
Are you kidding me? Councils make money from travellers.. let them spend it servicing our needs.
Hello Admin, if you make free camping too expensive, then we won’t bother coming at all!
Gday. I dont think its the grey water that is the main issue but toilet paper, wet wipes and poo. i live in a van and have a long handled shovel, a pee bottle and a bucket for emergencies. People traveĺing on a budget need to camp somewhere.
Facilitate not regulate.
Peace
Do they realise grey water is the best water for trees n lawn been proven though is just Greens B S
Agree that grey water is great for vegetation. Until recently lived in a suburb where had a septic tank and grey water used to water garden. If it’s good enough for suburbia, good enough for the bush…but pls no toilet waste ever.
Agreed.
It is discriminatory, Councils are bullies
Definitely discriminatory. I have a self contained van but it hasn’t always been the case. Young families have a right to use council capsites it seems councils want too get the tourist dollar but do not to give anything back
You nailed it there…
Small town action .. simply supply drop toilets and rubbish removal. Plant a welcome seed and the money will flow into the area this is Australia make it better
I’m actually happy with this but we are fortunate to be self contained. Sites have been ruined by the people who have left tufts of toilet paper, revolting of food scraps from their dishwater etc and if we are self contained it goes with us. Sad but self inflicted
Don’t worry even the selfcontained are as bad as others leaving grey water on ground even after being told not to, &there’s been some toilet paper left too, I know it’s not all campers of either lot it’s just some are just grubs and Don’t give a dam
I can never understand the logic of any council’s ideas, if they would just listen to the people who use these sites and understand there situation, then maybe they might realize that they are totally out of line and stupid in their decision. A lot of people have lost everything due to floods, Covid etc and are doing it tough, and i think that the Council should look at a better way of helping these people. As for GNM we all do the right thing when free camping and there is more vans out there that are not self contained than self contained, these sites generate a lot of money for locals all year around, so if you are worried about wild life etc then do the right thing and put in a Dump Point and portable toilets, Some times i think that someone new is appointed in this department of the council and comes up with these stupid ideas to make themselves look good in the eyes of their superiors.
Perplexing to see that many still dont understand the use of the term SELF CONTAINED.
Admittedly it would be better termed SELF SUFFICIENT – which is what is meant by most Councils.
Grey water only comes into it when the Council mandates the additional requirement re not allowing grey water onto the ground. The only likely inconvenience with grey to ground is if the hose is not moved at least daily and a soft spot ensues.
I don’t have a problem with needing a chemical toilet, but what possible harm can come from using a shower tent?
We have just had the same experience in WA. We had arranged to meet friends at the Racecourse camp area in Port Hedland. No sooner had we pulled in we were approached by 2 caretakers saying we were not permitted as we were not fully self contained. We explained that even though We have a small island star pop top, we removed the dining table and installed a porta loo and you know as campers with limits on water you don’t have a proper shower everyday, but they insisted we needed a plumbed shower and toilet. I agreed the point that our toilet was no different than any other in the park, they all have cassettes.The site had stipulated only a 3 day limit, and we’d only intended to stay 2 nights. We also have a tank for our waste grey water. But none of this appeased these caretakers and we were moved on. It seemed so unfair. Why did we need to have a plumbed shower, when a so called ‘pommy bath’ would do. None of our waste water would have touched the ground. I felt very discriminated against. I’d understand if I was in a tent and no way to save the grey water, but as far as I was concerned we had complied with all they required.
I’m sorry that happened to you. These self-contained rules are discriminatory.
I think it’s about time we start dobbing those that don’t do the right thing in. get their rego and a pic
and send to authorities and even post on social media
BBB
We are self contained campervan with a toilet and grey water tank for the sink, but we were turned away from Cooktown and Hughenden because we don’t have a shower cubical. If we don’t have a shower cubical we won’t be putting grey water on the ground, but if I go to these towns in a truck with no toilet, no grey water tank, no shower, no nothing I can sleep in my truck anywhere in town and nothing is said. Is this discrimination.?
YES!! This whole idea is discrimination and we should start a petition to SHUT THEM DOWN!