Free camping may make a return to the central Queensland town of Yeppoon … but not for a while yet.
While the future of the popular free camping area down the road in Rockhampton is well and truly in doubt thanks to a legal challenge from a caravan parks group, the Livingstone Shire Council is not being frightened away from the concept.
At the Yeppoon council meeting yesterday, mayor Bill Ludwig yesterday confirmed the Queensland Camping Toolkit had been adopted and the aim was to encourage the development of diverse accommodation for tourists.
The Morning Bulletin reports that while Cr Ludwig didn’t rule out the possibility of free camping in the future, no location or time frame was determined for a possible site.
“It is something that we have recognised and something we are workshopping as we know we need something that’s responsive to travelling tourists,” he said. “It’s a work in progress … we have adopted the guide to assist us as we develop in a changing market.”
Cr Ludwig said balance was the key as the region had a lot of great operators and needed to make sure it had a full range of offerings.
The Morning Bulletin reports that Cr Ludwig acknowledged that the legal trouble facing Rockhampton Regional Council over its Kershaw Gardens stay-area was a cautionary tale.
“It’s up to every council to decide how they’re going to run such a facility,” he said. “We will look at all of the options to see what’s worked in other areas for communities that may suit us.”
Previous attempts to set up a free camping area at the Yeppoon Showgrounds ran into grief but Cr Ludwig insists that there are still options.
“We have previously been approached by potential clubs that it’s something they might be able to do,” he said. “It’s important to investigate these options further and understand what’s going to complement the existing facilities.”
It is to be hoped that in this matter the Livingstone Shire Council don’t follow its peers and meekly kowtow to caravan park operators. Other businesses in town also want the nomads $$$, not just the CP’s.
The Council own 3 caravan parks leased out on the Capricorn Coast.
They gave the OK for low cost camping in the Show Grounds but the stipulations made it too expensive to set up. The caravan park that was making all the noise took the council too court on the decision, because there was a no show at the hearing from the council the courts ruled in favor of the CP so now the showgrounds will never happen. Probably looking at Marlborough area not the coast.
Have stayed at Showgrounds and Caravan Parks . Both were great and still spent my dollars in the town. Stayed at two different parks and looked at another one which we DEFINITELY would nit have stayed at. Showgrounds should be available to those who want to use them.