Stories and Photos by Dennis Amor

THE idea of providing free overnight rest areas in town centres is nothing short of 'offensive and provocative' to legitimate caravan parks, it has been claimed.

"What may seem an attractive proposal to local councils at the time can have short-lived benefits and long-term disruptive results," Queensland's Caravan Parks Association warned.

"One only has to look at Wyllie Park within the former Pine Rivers Shire to see how ghettos can form from such short-sighted policies," the association's government liaison officer, Tony Benson, said.

He made his comments in a letter to Fraser Coast Regional Council, which was considering whether to allow caravanners and motorhomers to overnight for free at the McDowell Car Park on Kent Street in the centre of Maryborough.

Councillors voted 8-3 to reject the idea.

In his letter opposing the rest area, Mr Benson said the continued viability of caravan and tourist parks throughout Queensland was under threat from "improper and inappropriate use and location" of rest and free camping areas ... and the inappropriate actions of some councils.

"Add to this the fact that the State Government has now – via Education Queensland – made state schools available for camping by RV groups and you can see that caravan parks, as we know them, are being slowly forced into extinction by the very bodies that will eventually have to supply the infrastructure to replace what were previously caravan parks," he wrote.

Local authorities had created or made available free camping areas, some of which were often improperly called rest areas and located very close to established commercial caravan and tourist parks, to their detriment.

"In nearly all cases, the parks suffering the brunt of such actions by local government are those owned by people who are paying rates and local government charges to the same authority which is causing them the most detriment," he said. "This issue is real and continues to destroy the financial viability of operators who have, in a lot of cases, poured their life savings into their caravan and tourist parks."

Mr Benson raised the question of RV clubs putting pressure on councils to provide free or subsidised overnight facilities under the guise of bringing the benefits of greater tourism to their areas.

"These clubs openly advise that if local authorities do not bend to this practice, then they will have to watch as members of the organisations drive past and boycott their towns," he wrote.

He maintained that rest areas throughout Queensland were largely in the wrong locations and vested interests had served to promote the "warped and misleading" idea that they were needed within towns and cities.

"This is an absolute nonsense," he said. "Local built-up areas are not where members of the motoring public are becoming victims of highway fatigue!"

Mr Benson warned that something would eventually happen at a free camping area in a built-up area which would cause damage, injury, shock, or trauma to an overnighter.

"The cry will then go up that the council, police or anyone else – except the user – should be ensuring the safety and wellbeing of those using the rest area.

"Instances of assaults in rest areas and elsewhere within Queensland and interstate have already been documented. To date, no civil litigation has ensued but it is only a matter of time before that happens!"

He pointed out that his association was very much in favour of free camping "as long as it is in the right place and under the right circumstances".

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