By DANE LILLINGSTONE
FOLLOWING months of debate in council around the future of free camping in the Southern Downs, the last pieces of the policy have been finalised in the general council meeting.
Campers will now be charged a $10 fee for staying at council reserves at Allora and Dalveen and there will be an overflow policy in place when caravan parks in the region are close to capacity during major events and holiday periods.
The fee system will be trialled at Dalrymple Creek Park, Allora, and Jim Mitchell Park, Dalveen, and will work on an honesty box system for vehicles staying overnight at the reserves with the money going towards maintenance of the toilets.
The maximum stay for vehicles will be 24 hours with signage expected to be installed to clarify the camping rules.
Mayor Peter Blundell said that he thought it was a reasonable fee.
“The council has been using an honesty box system at the Warwick Aerodrome for landing fees, which has been working well, so a similar system will be implemented at the two reserves, along with the erection of appropriate signage about the overnight stay fee,” he said.
“The council is aware that other land under council control in areas such as Leyburn and Wallangarra are also being used for overnight stays, but at this stage the fee collection system will only apply at the Allora and Dalveen park reserves so we can see how it goes.”
Councillor Jamie Mackenzie was against introducing the fees noting that the council had already resolved in a previous meeting to maintain Allora and Dalveen and that introducing the fees could create more problems for the council.
“I think it’s a greater risk and will encourage vandals,” he said.
“They (campers) are already contributing a small amount of cash flow to the region. We need to support these people as much as we can.”
Cr Neil Meiklejohn noted that a $10 fee was the industry standard.
The overflow policy was also finalised after being revised from the August general council meeting. The overflow policy dictates camping procedures when commercial caravan parks are near capacity during events or the peak holiday season.
The policy will work with council assessing submissions from commercial park operators and other organisations wishing to activate an overflow area who, once granted permission, will be responsible for insurance, advertising, referrals, bookings, payments and operations.
