Comment: Free Camping - What is the real cost?

Hi Michelle

I think you are correct in saying that the parks that are surviving have branched out into providing cabin style accommodation, as there is a better return and far greater reliability of income in many cases. The cost of developing one caravan site within a caravan park is estimated at around $30,000/40,000 (per site), a large investment, which comes on top of all the other capital and operational expenditure. The problem arises that no-one wants to pay the cost needed to make this investment viable, and if the council is opening up the showground to campers, and motor-homes, at a subsidised rate, than there is no incentive for private park owners to upgrade facilities, and leads to investigation into other uses for the land, such as subdivision. We are already seeing this, and it is worth noting many country towns have died a painstakingly slow death as one business after another has closed, it all starts somewhere.

What has prompted me to ask the question is a concern I have for the long-term tourism infrastructure outlook for Australia. A high Australia dollar is already seeing many tourism enterprises cutting future investment due to reduced inbound tourists’ to Australia. There is no doubt the issue is a hot one in need of a fix, and as I have said (many times) before the caravan park model may need to change and adjust, however this will only occur in the private sector and only if it is profitable to do so. Government subsidies are not answer, and there is the issue of ‘Price Neutrality’ which in a nutshell requires that the commercial activities of councils are charged at a competitive rate, rather than a reduced priced based on subsidies and rate-payers money. And imagine setting up a business, any business for that matter, only to find the council is now in competition with you, and is subsidising its costs using rate-payer money.

There are many places in Australia where there is no private short-term accommodation, and councils, in their wisdom may choose to make some provision in order to attract visitors, however I’m not sure the argument that the entire community in that region benefits. And from my own observation, I’m not sure that smaller communities reap the rewards from providing facilities for motor-homes and caravan travellers, generally given the budget cost pressures of extended travelling more often than not you will find there is a tendency to stay in the ‘free’ accommodation in smaller towns, and shop and refuel in the larger ones where there is price tension and cheaper pricing. I could be convinced otherwise on this point, but I’m yet to see a study that defines this.

The Tasmanian situation is a step in the right direction as it involves consultation, and we do need to move the debate beyond just how it affects an individual’s hip pocket...