A plan to allow low-cost camping at the showgrounds in the grey nomad hotspot of Yeppoon in Queensland has been scrapped in what is being seen as a victory for a local caravan park owner.
Late last year, Livingstone Shire Council supported a planning department recommendation for the conditional use of a limited area of the showground for caravan sites. The concept had been championed by the Yeppoon and District Show Society, which wanted to provide travellers with a lower cost accommodation alternative and boost tourism.
According to the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, the council’s conditional approval would have seen a maximum of 15 sites take up almost 7% of the showgrounds with a requirement that a percentage of the approved area would remain available for the regular Saturday Community Markets car park.
However, Dhani Dunne, who owns the Blue Dolphin Caravan Park near the showgrounds, lodged an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court last month on the grounds there was no economic demand for the facility and it wouldn’t strengthen the Shire’s tourism industry.
“Whilst many other Queensland showgrounds accommodate caravans, most of these are out west and in areas where they don’t have other commercial caravan parks to accommodate these travellers, so it is necessary to attract caravanners to stay and spend money locally,” she told the Bulletin. “However our situation is very different, as we have multiple caravan parks for caravanners to choose from and we live in paradise; people want to come and visit.”
The Yeppoon and District Show Society has just announced that it has decided not to press ahead with the showground camping plan. But it insists the caravan park’s objections and appeal had no effect on its decision.
“The costs the Livingstone Shire was going to impose because of the caravan area would have made it no longer viable because it was for the community, not just for us,” a society spokesperson said. “There was no point continuing.”
·        Would you have stayed at the Yeppoon showgrounds? Do you think current camping options there are adequate for grey nomads? Comment below.
You open up the show grounds and the nomads will come!
And they will spend money in the town!
Yes grey nomads will stay at the Showgrounds, when is these towns going to realise that it is not all about caravan parks, the whole town will benefit from a low cost place for namads to stay, we all have to eat, we all have to buy certain essentials, and fuel, so if they can’t get low cost camping in your town then they are going to spend the money someplace else.
Definitely
100%
After the grey nomads see this site yepoon will be boycotted
They will miss out on $$$
Wagga wagga has several cp and free camp at Wilks park+ showground and all get utilised ,good for the city $$$ rolling in.
Yes, we will take our money to the next town with showgrounds…don’t like the attitude of Yeppoon, but I do understand it is about the money per night for the cabin parks!
Why is that, Can I ask please
I’m pretty sure that they will spend there money around town being tourist etc, Just not at the caravan park. No problem.
Us grey nomads do not stay in CV parks so will continue to stay & spend our dollars inthe communities that suport our life style. There is a market for CV parks , holiday makers, people with young kiddies, families. ……having a low cost camp i town will not impact on the CVpark because like i already said……we don’t need them
Absolutely
YES it not only helps the towns businesses but also the show grounds as they can improve there facilities, maybe if the parks had a slightly cheaper rate for one nighters who just want to rest the Tyers and freshen up ,unhitch and go to the local RSL for a meal and fuel up for there next days journey .everyone benifits SIMPLE
100%
Another bunch of greedy park owners wanting to protect their bottom line, instead of providing cost effective powered sites for grey nomads.
And this is why they seek out those special places so that they can afford to spend $’s elsewhere.
Appears Yeppoon caravan park doesn’t like competion will Yeppoon council block the next application to establish another caravan park in the future ?
Make a reasonable site fee and we will come, 2-3 nights would be great and we would stock up with food and fuel before leaving.
it is fair the council impose the same direct cost on show grounds or any others wanting to operate a caravan park. these cost must be inline with what is imposed on commercial operators
“No economic demand” and “not strengthen the tourist industry” I’ll bet they never asked the local traders, and I wonder who paid for the Appeal Court costs?
Looks like Yeppoon has lost me
me to
Unfortunately councils don’t realise that the client that uses this style of sjowgrounds camp is provided they just keep moving to a locality that provide it. The caravan park would not have had thier clientele as they avoid caravan parks, it’s the town that is missing out
This is an increasing community that uses this type of accommodation
Exactly !
that’s correct – I went to the next town
One more CP owner holding the rest of the town to ransom.
Whats next, will the greedy caravan park owners try to shut down the motels ?
Another council who gives in to greedy CP owners. I wouldn’t stay at the Blue Dolphin CP as it is next to an enormous bat colony and the smell there is horrendous as well as the bat droppings all over your vehicles. It’s about time the travellers had a choice on where to stay rather than be forced into poorly managed and smelly caravan parks. Wake up councils.
Sorry Yeppoon, but I won’t be staying in one of your caravan parks. I need to keep my costs down in order to travel, see the sights & shop in your locality. You will miss out on the money I would have spent in your town.
We’ll be planning not to stay at Yeppoon. What a stupid reason not to allow the Showground to have Caravans.There are plenty of towns with parks and free camping who also have show grounds allowing caravans to stay even providing amenities.Yeepoon you are going to loose a lot of Grey Caravaners.
some towns offer FREE 24-48 hours stay right in the middle of town that has proven enormous monetary benefit
Unfortunately it is near impossible to get into most Coastal
parks for June, July August unless you are staying long term , a lot of travellers like to stay in towns for a few days and we do not mind paying for the facilities we stay at.
That is one caravan park that will not gain customers from the loss of the showground camping. All other businesses in town will lose out, as will the showground committee.
I understand the decision was made on financial grounds due to cost of upgrades required, but that was driven no doubt from complaints about ‘competitive neutrality’ from the usual suspects. They did not want to offer the same as caravan parks, but for the casual camping to continue which benefits the community run society, businesses in town that visitors patronise, and showground camping travellers.
No showground camping at Rockhampton, Mount Larcom closed, Yeppoon closed, and other rural showground not able to offer casual camping. A whole wider area misses out.
Sorry mother hen. Rocky has gone out of it way to attract travellers. There is a,large free for self contained vehicles right across the road from very large shopping,centre plcture theatre and restaurants’
have stayed in many showgrounds and always spent money in the town to bad yeppoon more money grabbing from the caravan parks
We are heading north this year and our plan is to stay in economical or free camp sites. We do not ever intend to pay $30 plus per night for a powered camp site when we are totally self contained. Scratch Yeppoon off our list of places to visit. Sadly short sighted bureaucrats kill income to their town.
Had planned to return to Yeppoon after last enjoyable visit 2 years ago. Sadly now we will pass by. CPs too expensive for constant travellers, who don’t need the breadth of facilties they have. Bye bye Central coast.
Yes, certainly would have become a regular stop for us as we target Showgrounds for our motorhome for a variety of reasons. We do not need Caravan Parks, and hence won’t be staying in Yeppoon.
We are always looking for cheap alternatives to the expensive cramped grounds in a caravan park…i think the yepoon council has made quite a costly mistake to the area.
People holidaying, and those with kids love caravan parks. My hubby and I don’t, because of the noise, the kids, and of course, the price. When you’re living on the road, you don’t want to be paying the same rate as you would for renting a house, but that’s what the caravan parks are charging. We won’t be going there.
Shortsighted of the council, a lot of people will by pass the town….no $s spent.
I like staying in show grounds they are mush cheaper them caravan parks and just as good
Have visited and stayec in Yeppoon twice, once in caravan park and once at showgrounds due to travelling with a dog. Will have to reconsider visiting again because of this decision and if we do will definitely NOT stay at Blud Dolphin on principle. This decision will cost Yeppoon in the long run
People who are setup to free/ low cost camping do not need high cost caravan parks. Caravan park operators need to meet the market and have a regular cash flow, instead of having vacant sites.
Other business people are suffering because of the greedy caravan park operators.
If you’re self contained why would you want to pay for facilities you wont use at caravan parks. If caravan parks had a cheaper alternative for s/c vans maybe a different story. All they want is top $. Yeppoon is off my stopover list for sure. Yeppoon is the loser.
This is not the first Council to use a large increase in fees to drive a Showground to stop providing RV Camping spots
In the long run the whole community will lose the economic benefits that are gained by having low cost camp sites.
The increase in demand for these sites is increasing a very high rate, something like 48% in the last year.
We visited Yeppoon last year and planed to return. Sorry not now as this will go on the Grey Nomads avoid list.
Spent a few days in Yeppoon at Showgrounds last June, fantastic. Not 1 caravan park could accomodate a bus ! We spent $400 in your town. Remember council we have to drive into Yeppoon and back out, it’s not a drive through town. Won’t be back this year we were planning on a longer stay also. With the resort closure the town is going backwards and you help it.
We stayed at the Showground last year, terrific. We tried to book in to caravan park but could not get a booking. Not the Blue Dolphin though because it was a dive. Friends made a booking at Poinsentia CP, when booking in found their site (especially picked) was given to someone else because they were staying two weeks not one. There was also no sullage at Poinsettia. They asked them not to use personal washing machines. They requested their money back and moved to a Rockhampton CP, NOT another CP in Yeppoon. It is any wonder we are fed up with Caravan Parks. As an aside when we there we went out for dinner, coffee, played indoor bowls, spent money at your markets, as well as doing our grocery shopping. The other commercial areas in town were crying out for shoppers, bad luck you guys, blame the council, Dhani Dunne and also the Showground Society.
That is there loss. Grey nomads will just keep going and spend their money elsewhere. Queensland is getting worse. 15 yrs behind the rest of Australia.
Dhani Dunne says “…..and we live in paradise; people want to come and visit”. Then why is she objecting to the show ground low cost camping? Obviously Yeppoon is already getting sufficient visitors to fill the current parks. Something must be amiss if the show society says they want to boost tourism but this woman says there is no need as everyone wants to visit Yeppoon anyway. They all need to get on the same page if their argument is to be convincing.
How annoying how about people trying to drive through and need a day or two break can never get in a CP and no free sites so let’s just push these drivers further on and risk an accident. They are worried they will loose customers we’ll make your park worth staying at for reasonable costs and people will gladly stay at your park rather than a Showgrounds
Good reason to avoid Yepoon’ i say. You won’t get my tourist dollars.
Will not be staying in Yeppoon as we will not pay $30+ to stay in cramped conditions and to help them pay for the fancy facilities the parks install but we never use.
We visited Yeppoon last year lovely spot but we won’t be back , would have if there was low cost camping at the showgrounds. Unfortunately the Town will lose a lot of money that would have been spent by the Grey Nomads because of a greedy caravan park owner.
I agree with all the above comments. Planned to travel north next winter. Yepoon is now definitely off our visiting list. What what a shortsighted Council. But aren’t most of them.
I understand the Park owner’s view……but he certainly is not making his park any more pipular! We won’t bother with Yeppoon…plenty more lively places to camp.
Will pass Yepoon in future, the rest of the town looses, pity the greed of one person , councils should wake up and stop these people doing these things , and look after the whole community
Open up to grey nomads show grounds .. for a small fee … town benefits.. the caravan parks make only few rich … I will shop in the town, caravan friendly .. I don’t where I have to pay big fees for caravan park .. ,lot people on a budget ..
Dhani Dunne is very misinformed., It is not only out West where we nomads can camp in showgrounds. We do it all the time as it is much cheap[er than caravan parks and it allows us to spend more in the towns.As we have to use Caravan Parks in your area we will not b e visiting., There are many other nomads like us who would yhink the same.
Money grabbing Yeppoonites.
Will avoid that place for sure! Thanks for a great Nomad site keeping us informed.
Dhani Dunne and the show society spokesperson, you can kiss goodbye to a huge group of travelling caravan club members EVER staying in your town.
We did have dinner at the Yacht Club with friends but didn’t stay in town or spend any thing else, would like to have stayed a couple of days if there was a cheaper alternative for self contained
Sorry to the other Yapoon store holders. Yapoon is now off the list of many, many grey nomads. We do not need jumping castles and playground equipment, etc, we just want a piece of liece of grass or gravel to park for a day ot two and spend money in your town. If you can’t give us that …… then we don’t come! As simple as that!
I mean a piece of grass or gravel.
Very sad indeed. I will not stay at the caravan park, it’s not only grey nomads, there are thousands and thousands of single men and single women in Australia, many are connected through the internet. Word gets around, we also pass word around to each other about CP’s that rule a town and council. I’m in Toogoolawah atm, show grounds here makes thousands of $, campers shop local, drink local, repairs done, to to dr’s, Chemist. Butcher is happy, town is happy. So Yeppoon CP big mistake.
I left a very important line out- there are thousands and thousands of people who live on the road… we are connected thru internet, we help each other and warn each other…. esp —– don’t go to such &such a place.
Having read through all of the above comments and agree with what has been said, it makes me think, how would the Yeppoon Council react to receiving all thee comments as individual letters of complaint, ?
would they bow to the wishers of one Caravan Park ? or maybe, have second thoughts before it’s too late for many small businesses in the town,
I have found in the past, a letter or email written, can have a lot of impact with Council,
So I say, voice you/re opinions direct to the Council, really flood their mail box with complaints, show them the “Grey Nomads don’t like to be shoved around “
Here we go – another selfish caravan park owner who doesn’t give a rip for her local business chamber members who benefit by Grey Nomad dollars – I am now boycotting Yeppoon
It’s crazy to just support one business when you could support multiple businesses by providing a low cost alternative for visitors towing caravans. The majority do not have the financial means to continually stay at caravan parks. Yeppoon is the looser, not the caravaners, they will go elswhere.
We are planning a trip in August and was hoping to free camp.This then enables us to spend the extra moey on visiting the attractions in that area.we will now have to move onto another area.Disappointed.
I would have thought Council should do all in it’s power to create an economic environment that helps all small business in a town. This decision certainly creates an environment for one business sector but creates doom and gloom for all other small business.
The majority of people who would have used the Showground will now bypass the town. Who wins? No one! Who looses? The Town!
I was looking for reasonable cost park for hubby & l in Yeppon. What a disappointment to find showground closed.
We do not want slippery dips, jumping castles etc. Quoted $42 pn, l spent $200 plus in Rockhampton today. What ever business you set up, you have competition, think about it? Yeppoon doesn’t need our tourist dollars.
shame on you yeppoon wont be holiday everyone can come here to beautiful hervey bay where our council loves grey nomads and all vistors can stay for free in our free camp spot near our tourist info centre. also maryborugh only 30 mins from here has $10 a nite spots near the airport.
we love tourism and it makes our city thrive. the greedy caravan parks now have all reduce prices and some now allow pets too. i think thats a win win for everyone. bye bye yeppoon
As a new CV park owner offering we believe affordable camping specifically for all nomads, grey or not I have to say that we have sold our home and used all of our life savings to purchase a business and tiny home on site that takes up all of our life at least 12 hours a day. We see some nomads in $80000 rigs with $60000 vehicles begrudging paying $15 each for a powered site, a friendly welcome, a cheery g’day and all needs catered for. We are definitely not greedy. Actually it is possibly the folk commenting here who are a little greedy wanting something for next to nothing. There is value in generosity of spirit and the companionship of others in a safe clean and friendly environment. If you want these things, then stay with us. We care that you have a great stay.
I notice you refer to people who travel in $80,000 & $60,000 caravans I guess for you to sell your home & all your banked money you must have had a gleam in your eye at the amount of money you could make from nomads who possibly had to sell their homes to get what they have but won’t be making profit like you. Who’s greedy.