qdts-camping-options-toolkit

Fact sheet E
Townsville City Council
To ensure all camping visitors to Townsville City have
a comfortable stay, the council has adopted a policy
for camping on public reserves. This policy applies to
camping in vehicles, tents and the like on public reserves,
parks, beaches and foreshores controlled by the council.
Camping is prohibited in all areas of Townsville City,
except for those areas designated as camping areas and at
approved caravan parks. Camping in designated camping
areas is permitted for a maximum of 48 hours.
Under Subordinate Local Law No. 4 (Local Government
Controlled Areas, Facilities and Roads) 2011, the following
are considered prohibited activities in the listed areas:
• All roads within the local government area—
camping, sleeping, occupying or remaining overnight
in a vehicle stopped on a footpath, shared path,
water channel or gutter.
• All parks and reserves within the local government
area—camping, sleeping, occupying or remaining
overnight in the park or reserve.
The council supports free camping for a maximum stay
of 48 hours at a multitude of designated camping areas
within the Townsville region. These include Saunders
Beach, Bluewater Park, Toomulla, Rollingstone Park and
Balgal Beach.
Campers overstaying the 48-hour free-camping period
is common in these areas, with many travellers rotating
between free-camping sites for extended periods.
Overcrowding, waste issues and issues with greywater
draining across local residential properties are other
problems arising from free campers.
To address the issue, the council has erected signage
to remind campers to move on after the 48-hour freecamping
period. Despite this, problems associated with
the free camping continue to arise.
Burdekin Shire Council
The Burdekin Shire Council allows camping and parking in
the Home Hill Comfort Stop for 48 hours and Funny Dunny
Park for 4 days in any 2-week period. Camping is also
permitted for 4 days in any 2-week period at any boat ramp
and landing.
Home Hill has presented a key management issue for the
Burdekin Shire Council, with backpackers and itinerants
outstaying the 48-hour stopping period by months. In
response, the council has introduced a demerit point
system where vehicles will be registered, have a unique
identification number and have a registration sticker on
the windscreen. It has also introduced new laws to allow
officers to issue move-on orders to people camping at
parks and rest stops for extended periods.
In contrast to Home Hill, Funny Dunny Park has been a
success (according to residents), even with long-term
campers. The site has none of the overcrowding issues
experienced by Home Hill and residents believe it is a
success in terms of economic gains for the community.
The maintenance of the park facilities is funded through a
donation box and this has been sufficient to date.
Over a 9-week period ending in August this year, it was
reported that 597 vehicles stayed at Home Hill, an average
of 66 vehicles per week, generating a spend of $48 288.00
(a large contribution to the local community). The ratio of
caravans to motorhomes recorded was as 6 to 1.
‘Some of the backpackers might come here to work and
they will be working for 3 months or more and just live
permanently there in the main street of Home Hill”
Ken Holt, Burdekin Shire Chief Executive
Ayr Showgrounds
The Burdekin Shire Council agrees in principle to the
use of part of the local showgrounds land for operating
a motorhome area for parking of self-contained
motorhomes only.
Any stay at the showgrounds is limited to no longer
than 3 nights, which may be extended to no more
than 7 nights if:
1. there is no adverse effect on local licensed caravan
and/or tourist park owners, and
2. the motorhome is able to store all toilet waste and
greywater for this length of time.
Cook Shire Council
Cooktown became an ‘RV friendly town’ and operated
an 8-month trial of a rest area from April to November
2013. Permits were charged at $5 per vehicle per night
(maximum 48-hour stay). A ‘dump ezy’ point was installed
along with a tap (to provide potable water) and rubbish
bins. Vehicles were inspected by a council officer to ensure
they were fully self-contained (greywater and blackwater
tanks) prior to campers receiving a permit. No generators
or washing lines on trees were allowed, and if visitors were
found not to be complying, they were asked to move on.
If vehicles were found parked and camping outside of the
rest area, a $220 on-the-spot fine could be issued.
The trial proved to be successful, with independent
research finding $73 977 was spent in the shire during
the duration of the trial. According to a survey conducted
by the council, 32% of visitors would not have visited
Cooktown if it had not been for the rest area and 34% of
respondents were travelling on to a paid site in the region.
The $5 permit was rated as good or excellent by 88%
of respondents and 87% rated the rest area as good or
excellent. As a result, the rest area trial was extended for
another 2 years.
Fact sheet E
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