Extra ratepayers' funds unwarranted

Have your say

GOONDIWINDI Regional Council has decided to abandon a free-camping trial in the town on the NSW and Queensland border.

Mayor Graeme Scheu said the council had decided it could not warrant investing extra ratepayer’s funds into the possibility of extending the trial at Redmond Park in Goondiwindi.

Councillors arrived at their decision after a lively council chamber debate.

Councillor Scheu said that while tourism and the drive market were major contributors to the regional economy, the council needed to ensure it made decisions that were financially responsible.

"We have excellent free camp reserves on offer and we were pleased to learn that some of the caravan parks have now decided to offer a low-cost camping option," he said.

He said the Department of Natural Resources, Mines & Energy had notified the council that its preliminary view was that the trial should not be extended.

"We were presented with just two options: either discontinue the town free camping trial or inject further resources into the management of the site in order to demonstrate a suitable level of compliance to extend the trial," he said.

"Compliance was by far the biggest issue as the trial was highly unregulated."

Councillor Scheu said the council was fortunate enough to benefit from Works for Queensland funding in upgrading locations such as Rainbow, Yellow Bank, Lees and Bengalla reserves.

The council will negotiate with DNRME to arrange a transitional period for the closure of the town trial.