The host of free campers that descend on seaside towns like Warrnambool in Victoria at this time of year have again come under attack from caravan park owners.
Warrnambool Holiday Park owner-operator Steve Moore has hit out at tourists who bypass caravan parks and other accommodation options in favour of free camping.
“We really need to clamp down on these people illegally parking in Warrnambool, using local facilities but not contributing anything,” he said. “Of course, businesses and caravan parks like myself miss out.”
Mr Moore said that on one night he saw about half-a-dozen vanpackers at Point Ritchie, 11 others lined up at the Viaduct Road car park near the footbridge and a few extra on the road leading up to the breakwater.
He told Warrnambool Standard newspaper that parks had been offering discounted rates because the summer season was coming to an end, so travellers had ‘no real excuse’.
Warrnambool City Council local laws officer Ian Fitzgibbon told the Standard that camping was not permitted along the city’s roads or in its parks and reserves.
“The council’s local laws officers have a range of responsibilities and duties to cover including the enforcement of laws governing illegal camping,” he said. “Where possible, officers will advise those who appear to be considering camping illegally to move on.”
Why is it that we never hear local residents complaining only van park operators. Big 4 park in Albany in peak season $ 70 a night minimum stay more than one night, Self explanatory.
Australia need to follow New Zealand’s example for freedom camping. No one misses out but a lot of money is spent at places the freedom caravaners stay or pass through
$ 15 to $20 ‘
His product is overpriced for the market. People are voting with their vans
the van park owners need to look at the reasons why people don’t want to stay there and fix THEIR problems, laws should not be made or changed because idiot owners are losing money
I doubt if they are losing money, just not making the profit they want.
Well said.
He said it himself,” prices have been reduced because it’s the end of the summer season ! Does he not see the problem can’t expect people to support him in the down times when he jacks it up for the summer, ! Come April another “season” begins, do the prices go up again?
well said Narelle.
My advice to this whinger is meet the market like every other small business operator has to. Personally I do not visit that area because of council policies. There are much better places to visit.
Whenever I stay at a “Freedom of choice” spot, I make sure I tell every shop or service I use that I am staying in their town because I didn’t have to stay in a caravan park.
Unless traders know that we ARE spending money in their town they wont know and will not be able to realise that the caravan park owners are not telling the truth.
We seem to be getting more and more Councils realising this and providing areas for Freedom of choice” camping. Pity Warrnambool Council haven’t got the message.
Please let the traders know when you spend money with them.
That’s the attitude all freedom campers should adopt. We always make sure every shop we buy from knows we are staying in the RV area and are supporting their town because they are RV friendly. We can afford to pay extra for bread milk etc in small towns because of the reduced costs. Please support these small towns instead of buying up big in regional centres.
If I owned a bakery ib a town..would i be able to stop the supermarkets selling bread. NO!! Caravan Park managers /owners need get over it. Offer a decent price for their product and stop trying to force their businesses down peoples throats.
I agree 100percent Gail. We had a Caravan Park in Narooma for 15 years and Parks have now priced themselves out of the market for us.We still go down the coast most weekends from Canberra fishing, Kayaking and Birding, and have free camped in our Transporter Van for the last 5 years. We don’t need all the overpriced amenities,kid’s slides, boom gates and checkpoints and ‘security’ that go with today’s Caravan Parks,and have saved ourselves a bundle of money. Luckily we know where the best free camping spots are around the beaches and lakes.
Mirool in NSW is Free, $10 for power and Gold Coin donation for the toilets and showers. Most bigger rigs are self contained nowadays. $10-15 per night for self contained. $5.00 per night extra if you need their toilets or showers. They still need staff to clean and maintain them. Most van parks have not kept up with the difference in Grey Nomad and families in relation to amenities. Haven’t used a swing or bouncy thing for years. Not intending to use them for years to come.
If the City of Warnambool wants tourists then they need to accommodate them by providing some budget options.Councils role is to promote the city and provide fairly for all who wish to visit. Not everyone wants to use a CP just like not everyone wishes to stay at Hilton hotels. We do still have freedom of choice. That said we prefer to be out of town but if that is not possible we will use a CP but not at those prices, we would go elsewhere.
They’re back packers. Enough said. But the real Nomads, would not be seen dead in a tourist town over the silly season. Rates, costs, fuel, food etc are all marked up.C/Parks have to realise that they could capture a reasonable income from self sufficient Nomads, if they lowered their rates and provided an area in their parks for them (Nomad..back packers ), not create semi hotels/resorts (cabins etc) Stop whinging, tap into a renewal resource, US.
Well said. Working as a caretaker on a park I found that back packers generally worked their way round Australia. They left early am and returned late covered in dirt and exhausted. In between they took in our beautiful country on a budget. Yes, some were a pain and abused what was on offer expecting a free ride but in general i found if we gave a little they also worked with us and played by the rules. If they were unable to meet the costs involved then we would refer them to a free area to park & sleep within the area. We have met some really interesting, young & older people living life on a tight budget but living life to the max. Their stories, cultural differences and experiences made life interesting and also offered us an in-site to the challenges they faced living the dream.
who wants their flash cabins jumping castles and such , get a real price and you get real people .
Its not just the parks missing out issue .As many of us grey nomads know its not nice to pull up at a good free camp spot to find rubbish and human feices left behind.I live in warrnambool and at the moment if you go down to the mouth of the river you have to very careful where you walk.And this is the sort of things that give us free campers a bad name and the cause of many of free camps being closed down all round australia
We just came back after 8 weeks of mainly free camping in Oz, we spend nearly $6000.00 over that period, we own our motor home so no rental unit. We believe that we have done our bit to keep local business going. We are also about to go again for a while, so more money to the locals, some Caravan parks are to GREEDY & need to look at there pricing. Councils do need to move on those that park in main streets or other places that are not suitable. Have a good look at what Bridgetown in WA provide for the traveling public, It great.
20 to 25 per night, all we need is a site, dump station water and power, no play grounds or pools, and clean ammenities for those that need them and reasonably priced washing machine -dryers
Don’t worry folks, people with the attitude of using the council laws to suit their own purposes don’t last long. I’m sure after he sells his Caravan Park for an outrageous price he will care less about the rights and become a free camper like the rest of us. Everyone should be allowed to use public land to squat on and live a free life as much as they can.
A reasonable price for people who do not have children and do not use playgrounds or swimming pools should only be about $25 per night.
A better idea would be a small charge to use the laundry, fill water tanks and empty grey and or black water tanks. That way we could be on our way and out of their park so that they can get more family groups that they prefer into the park. As far as the backpacker vans go. That’s a different story all together. Park them near the local tip. If found elsewhere, impound the vehicle for 48 hrs. with a reclaim fee.
That’s a bit of a harsh thing to say about vanpackers – I would fall into this category and I think I am a pretty decent person. I am friendy, clean and respectful. I like my chosen mode of travel for the freedom. Why should I be treated any differently to other holiday makers?
You should be able to buy a key that gets you into different areas. Use of Toilets pay more . To use the pool pay more. Swings – pay more. Bbq’s – pay more . Etc. You pay for what you get and don’t pay for what you don’t want.
The problem with Councils and Caravan Park owners trying to force all travelers with RV’s Vans and caravans, into Caravan Parks (no matter how expensive), is that, all it will do is force nomads like ourselves to boycott the town and look elsewhere for cheaper or ‘free’ camping spots.
Take Casino in northern NSW as the perfect example, where they used to allow RV’s and vans to stay overnight in certain elected parks. The Council has now prohibited this. The net result is that travelers look elsewhere outside the town, rather than being forced into an over priced caravan park. It also has the effect of driving potential tourist dollars away from the town, especially if the traveler is being treated like some sort of nuisance visiting the place..
Funny thing with Casino is the people that started it moved on and start another one similar on the Hwy near 12 mile creek near Karuah and now all the rest area you used to be able to stop at around there have No Camping Signs. Makes you wonder doesn’t it????
” that parks had been offering discounted rates because the summer season was coming to an end, so travellers had ‘no real excuse’”
Had been offering, to me reads that the rates are back to normal. His park rates for a grassed powered site in offpeak is $30 per nite, which rises minutely to $60 during the peak period….. Coomeonnn Why isn’t the ACCC looking into these buggas for price gouging….they are for fuel companies….
Just saying
Greed is the problem not the solution. A myriad of caravan park owners only think about the big bucks they can rake in for themselves. Not what the visitors can bring to their town. Considering necesssities such as food and toiletries, fuel etc, one with an ounce of commonsense would know just how much visitors contribute to the survival of towns. It’s called tourism… Only recently hubby and I were camped up at a showground with meters that actually showed how much electricity was being used. We were running the fridge/freezer, fan and television. Fan was running all night considering the heat and the total cost for electrity for a 12 hour period was $2.45. Now how can caravan park owners justify charging such high rates ???? Bring the prices down to a reasonable amount and business might pick up again… but get heads out of rectums and realise it’s us who help keep small towns up and running.
we also stayed at a caravan park which had meters….$20 pn plus power…end of the week thought power would be expensive but was only $10 pw….
Re freebies. Take a look at York in Western Australia. They have even put in 4 power points in an area next to toilet block and about 60 mtrs from main street. Free for 24 hrs.. It has stopped vanalism in the park and brought business to the townCouncils everywhere take note.
as disabled pensioners travelling in a whizz bang van for 3 weeks at a time we are self contained and require nothing other than a nice clean quiet spot to stay in overnight we use local shops and enjoy talking to the locals..we see no point in using caravan parks
When we owned a 3 star motel in Busselton, we had to compete with the caravan parks in the off peak times. They could charge 3 or 4 times we could during the peak times and then came down to meet our prices during the off peak times. I have no sympathy for the park owners what so ever and most of them get what they deserve even though we do stay in parks when we need to.
The larger supermarkets like Walmart here in the USA offer free overnight parking. They know we spend cash in the store once there. aybe we should be approaching the larger supermarkets in Oz. Just a thought
An excellent initiative! I wonder if anyone would be game enough here!
Of course we are going to free camp where and when we can when we are on the road. I mean honestly try paying in excess of $200.00 a week in a CP and continue paying rates, insurances ect, for our house at the same time. Regardless of free camping or CP’s we have to spend money where ever we are so of course money is being circulated but of course a few want it all. Is still a free country with a lot of room so free camp here we come.
There comes time when I have to resort to when am I going to be heard. I get asked every time I go to a caravan park, how many of you. Answer ONE (1). Do I get heard and have a reduced price for one person. NO. I get charged for TWO (2). So as a consequence when I was charge $39 for one night, there was not going to be another. And it wasn’t at a 4 star grade either. Next option move on and as I am self contained, decided no power for a few days until I could be stationary and pay only a couple of nights of power. The other thing I do is use the facilities, that is have two showers a day to compensate for the other person!!! And use all their other facilities.
In June last year I stayed in a Warrnambool Caravan Park for $30 per night for ONE (1). Yes in the middle of winter when is was blowing a gale! That says it all.
Get some realistic prices to a one night stay in a caravan park and I will willingly park my van in your park. At your outrageous prices of course we will free camp , but understand we still spend our pension dollars at the supermarket. At anything over $20 a night is purely price gouging.
I get a little fed up with people bagging vans as I drive one and get thrown in with backpackers, it seems if you cannot spend $100k plus you should be parked at the rubbish tip.
We use legal free camps, but we also use caravan parks when we are within town limits.We do not travel near the coast at peak times.Last year when at cable beach even off season the vans where jammed tight in the car park and there where that many we had trouble parking our 4wd,rubbish everywhere so you cant blame people complaining about these wicked vans.Now we are home in Warrnambool and the same thing is happening here with the vans and it is costing me as a rate payer to clean up after them and I dont think that is fair because we leave no trace out of respect for our country and other grey nomads
My husband and I have just completed a 8 week journey throughout NSW and utilised caravan parks extensively and during this 8 week period we estimated we spent $8K, not just on fuel but meals at various towns, coffee shops, newsagents, museum entrance fees etc and caravan parks of course. We consider we have done our bit in the nomad brigade and supported those local communities with our business as we passed through or stayed. Most caravan parks we sourced from Wiki Camps and tried to find ones that were pet friendly and inexpensive. We came home in early December as the prices were doubled for the summer season and really is that necessary as we would have kept travelling and spent money in each town we visited, but alas $60/70 per night for a van that is totally self contained was too rich for our tastes and headed home. Caravan park owners you missed out!
If councils and pollies do the right thing for the economy, they will realise that the hundreds of dollars that park owners want are otherwise SPENT throughout their town. Therefore more than ONE person benefits from free camping. Wake up and be community minded, greedy.
The council has given in to A park operator at STANLEY Tas, and have closed down freecamping area at the wharf. That town will suffer and take years to recover if ever they change their mind. A lot more free camping throughout Tas in receptive townships……….support them.
We stayed at that spot in Stanley when were were in Tassie. I think it was at the foot of ” The Knob”.
Surely the councils and authorities, including the Tourism Industry body must realise the value of the travelling Grey Nomad (in particular.)
We are the life blood of the tourism industry, whether it be via Caravan, car train or plane. We have the time and the $$$$$ to enjoy the great lifestyle that the Land of Oz. has to offer.
John
hi,just did trip around oz,the only thing I could complain about ,was caravan parks complaining about free campers,the thing I don’t understand is THEY are CARAVAN PARKS ,not motels ect DID the motels,hotels ect complain when they put cabins in and took their business ,no we only hear the C-Parks complaining,
Well said Kerrielyden. I’ve often thought that exact same thing & I’ve found that motel rooms are quite often cheaper than cabins in C/Parks. I always try to avoid staying anywhere over $25/night & often find much cheaper powered options e.g. show grounds etc. I travel with my best mate (4 legged variety) & a lot of parks don’t allow dogs in S/Hols & in peak times there is usually a min. booking period – 3wks at some. I also free camp as long as there are others around. Camps 7 is my roadside bible!
We are unable to disagree with any of your comments, But, having come from a business background and being self funded RETIREES and still paying TAX, if we owned a C/P we would rather have a C/V full of travellers @ $ 12 P/N than half a dozen at $30 plus. WAKE UP YOU IDIOT PARK OWNERS AND SMELL THE NOMADS. WE ARE REAL PEOPLE WHO VOTE WITH OUR WHEELS.
Most camper vans and motor homes are self contained so we don’t need campsites. Also wherever we park we would spend money perhaps in a nearby pub or shops so we do contribute to the local economy. A tip to campsite owners would be to make your prices more affordable and not rip people off.
To the Caravan park owner. Why should people be subjected to your price gouging? And My friend these “illegal” campers are not doing anything illegal and they ARE contributing many $s to the local towns revenue. You sir are just a grubby money hungry whinger