The issue of more free camping areas for grey nomads is shaping up to be an election issue in Hervey Bay, Queensland. Gil McGlinn, who is standing for Division 7 of the Fraser Coast Regional Council, says offering more free overnight stops would bring a significant boost to tourism in the area.
In particular, he says a rest area is needed near the Hervey Bay Tourist Infor-mation centre to entice people off the Bruce Highway. He told the Fraser Coast Chronicle such a move would not hurt existing caravan parks in the area, as “the grey nomads who look for free camp sites aren’t coming here already”.
Mr McGlinn also wants to make the area a mecca for recreational fishers. He wants to lobby the State Government to buy back commercial fishing licences from Hervey Bay operators, as he says the nets being dragged through the bay at the moment leaves nothing for the recreational fishermen.
Mr McGlinn believes the dollars from the added boost to the tourism industry would outweigh the loss of Hervey Bay’s oldest industry. “The commercial fisherman could operate out of Tin Can Bay or Bundaberg,” he told the Chronicle.
