I should say I enjoy free camping as much as the next person and have spent many a happy evening around a campfire in total isolation with sublime relaxation….

But who should pay for the facilities?

I’ve posed this question around the traps on a few Fora and bought it up around campfires and it usually ends up in near fisticuffs… Some people honestly believe that it is their right to camp where ever they want and offer no recompense or help in keeping the area clean…

The arguement that "Oh we support the local community by buying groceries or a cup of coffee" does not cut it because you are only helping out to cover a miniscule amount of the costs associated with keeping a free camp open.

The biggest expense is the Insurance that councils are forced to have because there were a few incidences where a Council was sued by an insurance company after a limb fell off a tree, a kid fell into a long drop and other "accidents". The cost of public liabilty insurance is not inconsiderable. I read that it can cost between $10 to $50 per day per vehicle to keep a free camp up and running, mowing, maintenance of facilities that are vandalised (never of course by free campers), civil works ie keeping the entry track negotiable, cleaning up rubbish and of course Insurance..

So I ask again who should foot the bill? Local residents by way of their rates? If you lived in a small rural community would you like a surcharge on your rates to pay so someone outside of town can use the facilities?

With ever increasing costs its no wonder Councils shut Free camps down. Of course there are other factors at play here too, frequently the local Van Park owner is on the Council and its seen to be to their benifit to have free camps shut down….

User pays is one solution, a few spots have a donation box and a very few people put anything in. Automated ticket machines are the way of the future, no current ticket displayed and you can wear a fine….
Sad if not desperate situation but someone has to pay in the end….

Hi Trev

Most free camps are not serviced, or they share toilets with the day/picnic area. This costs council and residents no more than for day visitors or those driving through the area stopping to use toilets, drink from the town water drinking fountain, park in the parking area, or have a picnic at the picnic facilities and deposit rubbish in the bins.

The risks you talk of needing liability insurance apply just as much for locals or day visitors using the area.

Some communities provide services at little or no cost as an investment in visitors. Like the cost of advertising, it is something to being potential customers into the area.

A free camp by definition is just that, a FREE camp
If I use an area where there is a small cost I pay it, I have seen many people not pay or stay just outside the area where the sign asking for the fee is and say "I’m not in that area"
I consider anything under $10, where the area is open and not regimented, a freecamp
We have also been to $10 a night caravan parks, one in Murrayville , Vic, was $9.90 on with power but as it was regimented, was a caravan park

Some people treat freecamp’s like a rubbish tip, you will always get that unfortunately, all we can do is treat it as our property and look after it for the people that follow

It seems to me that most of those areas over this way with decent toilets and parking are now no longer free camps but "rest areas", particularly on the busier routes. There are some low cost areas like Ariah Park, Ardlethan etc but they are "intown" and do not require workers and trucks driving a long way to collect the garbage etc. Quite a few get shut down simply because they become rubbish tips…
Insureres do a risk analysis, the risks associated with someone stopping for lunch or to use a toilet are far less that someone setting up camp for a few days. It works like this; if a tree limb breaks off and causes damage to a vehicle or van or person then the person whose property is damaged claims insurance and depending on the amount of the claim the insurer will sue the "owner" of the facility to recoup costs. If its not a "signposted" freecamp the council can and have used that as a sucessful defence…. If there are no signposts then it depends exactly on whose land the incident occured as to who is liable for damage…
There is discussion in NSW at least at the moment to put a "levy" on RV registrations to help cover the costs associated with the use of such due to increasing popularity and people doing the wrong thing in State Forests, National Parks and along beaches…. To my way of thinking this is an unfortunate but necessary thing we cant have people abusing the privelige they have to access these areas and just say "I dont give a toss, someone else can pay"

Yes I saw one fool trying to pull an honesty box out of the ground at a spot near Bermagui. There are some who unfortunatley want everything for free and really arc up when they are asked for a few $ to help with the costs.

On our trip to WA we stopped at a spot overnight and there were a few sitting around the fire chatting and one bloke is just throwing hi empty stubbies off into the scrub. In the morning someone had found them and retrieved them and lined them up on his bonnet…

Dash cams are good for catching those who throw rubbish from moving vehicles…

I reckon it should come under Parks and Garden. If the council don’t maintain a park and someone gets hurt walking in it, I would say they are liable.
It could be so that you would haft to go to the local tourist information or council office, give them your name and address and pay a fee for the days you want to stay in the camp, leave the ticket on your dashboard or the inside of your caravan window.
If someone doesn’t behave in a camp cant you ring the council and get the ranger out?

Hans

Depends on where the freecamp is who you can contact if there is strife, try calling the police halfway across the Nullabor or on a Sunday evening just about anywhere, Council Rangers have limited jurisdiction and enforcement ability, they can issue notice of fines if you are in breach of a Council Bylaw BUT the rules etc have to be displayed on a sign at the location….
The overnight stops on the Pacific Hwy were converted to "rest stops" because they were not actually under council control becuase they were on the RMS owned "easements" and there used to be problems with hoons causing damage at night….In fact if you look more closely you will see that just about all the "freecamps" along Highways have been converted to rest stops and some have signs erected specifing exactly what you can and cant do….
The "unserviced" spots that MH refers to are actually paid for by the users who are the ones that clean up the mess after the inconsiderate users cover them in litter… Then they get targetted for closure because someone complains about having to clean up after someone else and the Council or road authority the land is on just does not want to foot the bill…
Quite a few of these spots are on Crown Land especially the ones along the rivers and accessing the crown land is totally at the discretion of the land owner whose property will border the Crown land of the water course at the "high Water mark", not the highest place water has flowed duing flood… So can a private land owner charge a fee to access the camping spot on by the river on the Crown land??? You betcha they can and quite a few of them get right p’eed off with people ripping down fences for firewood, leaving heaps of rubbish, destroying the riverbank causing erosion, starting grass fires. etc etc so lock their gates to tourists or make the spots available only to those who leave a deposit or pay a fee….

Weren’t they always RMS Highway rest areas Trev? Because there is no time limit on RMS rest areas, No Camping signs were placed in problem areas. They never were camping areas, but rest areas for road safety. Resting overnight is resting, and legal.

Technically they were rest areas as are most of these roadside halts. They were never signposted as simply rest areas and indeed if you look back at older versions of "Camps Australia" they are shown as long stay… I wonder why anyone would want to stay in a place like that for a few days, the road noise would drive you mad but that was what was happening….
Interestingly the RMS have devised a definition of "Camping", you can stay in one of those areas as long as you like but do not unhitch. Of course if you have to unhitch because of breakdown I guess the RMS would show some sympathy…
Also worth noting to is that now RMS truck or heavy vehicle inspectors can issue ( or "cause to be issued") fines for those who park in truck only parking places along the Hwys… Meaning that they can take a time and date stamped picture and RMS will send you a notice in the mail presuming you have a letter box associated with the rego number of the vehicle…
Its all happened quite recently too, I guess the rush of emails to the RMS demanding a definition of "Camping" may have spured them into action….
On the Hume north of Marulan there are a couple of long stay areas but you have to drive off the Hwy to get to them but they still fall under the RMS control and are not signposted….