A Clarence Valley Council report has confirmed there’s still no clear solution to stop overnight camping at popular beaches across the region.
The report comes after a motion raised in July questioned what could be done following ongoing complaints from Wooli residents about illegal camping. It looked at options to better enforce overnight parking restrictions in coastal areas with the biggest hot spots being Yamba, Iluka, Angourie and Brooms Head.
Council staff say that while restrictions are in place, enforcing them has become increasingly difficult. Safety concerns for rangers, limited staffing, and new state laws that require fines to be placed directly on vehicles make overnight patrols harder to carry out. Even when fines are issued, many campers simply move to another nearby carpark rather than leaving the area altogether.
Ideas like installing gates or barriers were ruled out due to high costs and impracticality at multiple beach locations. Trail cameras may be trialled in some areas, but they also come with risks and expenses, including damage or theft.
Despite the challenges, council will continue daytime patrols and education campaigns to encourage compliance. However, the report acknowledges that not all campers are on holidays. A growing number are believed to be homeless, living out of cars or vans due to the ongoing housing shortage across the Clarence.
With no real solution in sight, maybe it’s time to look at the issue differently. Rather than pushing campers out of the area, the Clarence could consider designated areas that allow short stays, with bins, toilets and basic facilities funded by a small user fee.
Some regional areas have started to adopted this model successfully, giving travellers and vanlifers a safe, managed place to stop for a night or two while supporting local businesses in the process. If managed properly, short-term camping could help boost the local economy instead of draining resources on endless enforcement.
What do you think — should the Clarence embrace campers with managed facilities or continue trying to move them on?
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Yes provide overnight parking atvenues that are not being used at night. Sports grounds, school grounds, car parks that are only used in the daytime. Lease the option to collect fees to the sites that have facilities only. Overnight stays only. For genuine travellers. Some sites may choose to have gates while others may be open. Look at freedom camping in NZ. What works and what doesn’t? I’m a ratepayer etc. l don’t want to be abused by people who have no social responsibility . I hope we haven’t reached the stage where we just let things become anarchic because we are unwilling to provide reasonable options or to place expectations on those who wish to abuse our hospitality.
People should be allowed to camp over night in their vehicles without feeling intimidated by bully Council Ranger tactics..Not everyone wants to stay in caravan parks n pay a ridiculous price to stay there.. Maclean Showground is a good example for camping.. After all CVC with glossy tourist brochures attract people to the area then fine them for camping outside the CVC controlled parks because they are full.. Catering for these overnight campers by utilising existing infrastructure such as toilets at sportsgrounds is achievable.
Not in the national park, boat ramp or beach parking areas.
If you embrace free-campers with free or low cost sites and facilities you actively encourage even more to come. We have 3 regular campsites in Iluka that can and should be used.
If you need to allow overnight parking somewhere, eg schoolground, make sure the area is cleaned daily, that people don't overstay and make sure that it is paid by the fees collected.
Definitely Valley Watch has raised this before to CVC with no outcome. Also the fact that they have decreased camping at local caravan parks & they are so expensive has made the Clarence Valley which used to be camping friendly too expensive. Local National Parks are too regulated & hard to book into & also now quite pricey adds to the problem.....and of course there is the housing problem.