Winton Qld: Free camping under threat by CP complaint

[Motherhen]

Another caravan park owner wanting free camping shut down in her town

A caravan park owner at Winton, in central western Queensland, says she is considering her legal options, after 40 caravans parked and stayed in the town for free.

Narelle Lenton says earlier this month, the vans were allowed to park behind a local hotel and on council land, even though there were vacancies at her registered caravan park.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-21/v ... ction=news

CEO Tom Upton says a balance needs to be struck.
Mr Upton says the council is investigating the complaint.
However, he says the issue of free camping is a delicate one for council because while it is important to support local businesses, it is also vital to encourage tourism growth.

There are three caravan parks in Winton and from reports on Badger’s all are fairly basic. One is relatively new. The Lentons took over the Pelican Caravan Park in 2010, subsequent to our visit, and from reports on Badger’s have made some improvements. The Pelican Caravan park charges $26 for two powered and the other two charge $30.

The historic North Gregory Hotel offer their customers a limited number of unpowered parking sites in their back yard, with access to hotel toilets and showers at no charge. The North Gregory Hotel yard is small and would not take many rigs – maybe ten or twelve at maximum?


Free camping is four kilometres out of town at Long Waterhole, with absolutely no facilities.

It is not clear in the article as to whether these caravans were camped illegally within the town or at the traditional free camping area Long Waterhole.

Ms Lenton would do better to put her energy into improving her caravan park, conveniently located in the main street in easy walking distance from the Maltilda Centre and other tourist features in the town centre. If she cannot compete with an unserviced waterhole out of town and a few unpowered parking sites in the back yard of a hotel, it says much about the quality of her park.

The Winton Shire Council can be reached as below should anyone want put in a submission

Winton Shire Council
75 Vindex Street , Winton QLD 4735
P.O. Box 288, Winton QLD 4735
Telephone: (07) 4657 2666
Fax: (07) 4657 1342
Email: [email protected]

Note that the Mayor of Winton is also a Lenton, but is not the caravan park owner.

[Gary and Sharon]

Hi if the caravan park that is complaining is the one I think it is she doesn't deserve to have anyone in there, looks really nice on the brochure and when you get there a run down place. Went there last year think it was about $30 for the 2 of us. Told her we had a large van did she have a powered site told us yes took us to an unpowered and no water needed 40 meters of hose and lead to get anything so I lost it and told the scuffy old bitch to stick it and got money back and left

[dieseltojo]

Thanks Motherhen,
We stayed out at the waterhole as the back of the pub is a bit basic, view wise.
But it is a great offer to travellers and no doubt boosts the pubs viability with meals etc.It too is a buisness struggling for a market share.

I don't want to hijack your nice post but what's the formula for the posting of that pic so that it is small and can be clicked on for enlargement. I know from the other forum that you are a whiz at this but it is new to me......does it save band width as well ?

[Motherhen]

Hi Gary and Sharon; maybe not the one. The Pelican CP is in the main street and recent reports from Badger's show powered site for two as $26. Can you confirm if this was the one?

• Pelican CP at $26 - basic, well located in the town
• Matilda Country Tourist Park $30 - basic, on the northern end of town
• Tattersalls Hotel Van Park $30 - basic, central in town
• North Gregory Hotel Unpowered, free for customers, who can be expected to pay at least the equivalent of an unpowered site in meals and drinks.
• Long Waterhole, free, no amenities or services, out of town, rough dirt road access

Tattersalls is a relatively new venture.

We chose to stay at the Pelican in 2009 when under previous proprietorship, knowing from others just what to expect. The other CP was none to flash either, and Pelican was in the main street easy walking distance from the town centre, cheap enough at the time at $20. We are generally out-of-town bush campers so are not fussed about the standard of amenities if the fee is fair.

Hi DT

That 'other place' uses an outside hosting service for photos, with only the thumbnail showing in threads, which can then be clicked on to open on the outside website. I have used that provider for the photo in this thread. It is a bit like using say Photobucket and putting a link, only with Post Image the link shows as a thumbnail rather than a written URL. I reason that outside hosting would save the forum hosting space. I hope posting from that source here doesn't get me into trouble

[BruceQ]

Hi to all here

Please send an email to the Council to let them know your thoughts about this.
Your email does not have to be long, just tell them what you think as you can make a difference and help to keep low cost campsites available to us all.

Winton Shire Council
[email protected]

Thanks

Bruce

[Motherhen]

It appears that Ms Lenton's complaint is based on the fact that recently a group of 50 CMCA members stayed at the Tattersalls Hotel which operate a caravan park. The overflow may have been on Hotel land, or Council land as Ms Lenton asserts, however a number of businesses and tourism ventures did gain custom from the influx of visitors.

Narelle Lenton says earlier this month, the vans were allowed to park behind a local hotel and on council land, even though there were vacancies at her registered caravan park.

[Gary and Sharon]

Hi motherhen it was Matilda country caravan park. Had to look it up to find out cheers Gary

[Motherhen]

Thanks for the clarification Gary.

While Ms Lenton's complaint to Council is still under review, the CEO has made the following comments to us:

Winton Shire Council has a fairly long history of seeking to develop an equitable balance between the interests of its Caravan Park owners and self contained tourists.

Council's local laws provide for camping in town in facilities that offer adequate amenity to cater for users whether this be at our caravan parks, hotels, motels or our showgrounds as an overflow facility where caravan parks are full. If our hotels and motels wish to provide camping on their premises then they must satisfy the same requirements in terms of amenities as the caravan parks.

Council has sought to meet the needs of self contained travellers by providing free camping opportunities at the Long Water Hole, which is about a three minute drive from town. This arrangement has been in place for a number of years and to the best of my knowledge has been acceptable to both self contained travellers and the accommodation providers. Winton Shire Council has no plans to change this arrangement now or in the future, so the Long Water Hole is to remain available for self contained travellers.

Council has a degree of sympathy for both accommodation providers and self contained tourists and believe that other businesses in town are also stakeholders in this matter and will continue to consult with all parties over time if the existing policies are to change but please note that at present there are no changes planned.

Again a balanced statement from Winton CEO Tom Upton, as was his quote as reported in the media article.

There is no suggestion in this that the CMCA group at the Tatts Hotel Caravan Park and Hotel grounds were camping either unauthorised or on Council land.