Gilgandra Shire Council Mayor Doug Batten said the council is stuck “between a rock and hard place” on whether to allow caravans to camp for free outside of the shire’s caravan parks. 

Several caravan park owners from the shire told the Western Plains App on the condition of anonymity that they were concerned that free camping was costing their businesses customers. 

Cr Batten told the Western Plains App he understood their concerns, but also those from venues in the areas who were offering free camping to attract tourists to the region. 

In 2019, Council passed a motion supporting Freedom Camping at commercial businesses, under a number of conditions.

According to the resolution the primary factors is “That these are primitive camping arrangements and these sites should not offer amenities that paid commercial caravan parks provide – i.e. water, showers, electricity and/or 24 hour access to toilet facilities”. 

Cr Batten said there was a number of valid conflicting interests in deciding the best policy approach, including council-owned caravan park lease-holders asking for reductions in rent because of the availability of free camping sites across the shire. 

“There have been a dramatic increase in the number of caravanners in the last 10 years to the shire” he said. 

Cr Batten said that ultimately the council decided to create its own free campaign spot next to the Gilgandra Heritage Centre with a maximum of 10 vehicles a night. 

“The Council will extend the existing overnight parking area trial to the 31 December 2024 in it’s current form to allow the opportunity to explore alternate models for free and/or low-cost camping options, along with the locations, with a view of maximising benefits to the Gilgandra Region visitor economy” Cr Batten said. 

He said council would meet regularly with caravan park owners about how this is impacting on their businesses.