Douglas missing out on visitor spending because it’s not an ‘RV friendly destination’
RV PARK PUSH
A push to make Douglas Shire an ‘RV Friendly Destination’ is likely to be revived with evidence that the local area is missing out on substantial visitor dollars being spent in other Queensland shires where RV parks have been set up.
Douglas Shire councillor Peter McKeown has told Newsport the region is missing out on potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars a year because key RV clubs do not recognise Douglas as RV friendly.
CMCA’s RV Friendly Town or Destination map shows several RV friendly sites in neighbouring areas: three on the Tablelands, two in Cairns’ south and one in Cooktown – but none in Douglas Shire.
RV parks ‘no frills’ and low cost
To be accredited, the sites usually only require basic facilities for waste water dumping and are for ‘self-contained’, off-the-grid RVs which have their own toilets, showers and power.
Cr McKeown said he tried to convince Council to make the RV Friendly move earlier this year but other councillors weren’t supportive because they thought it would mean costs to ratepayers.
He argued at the time, and maintains now, that Douglas Council could in fact earn income from an RV park by selling off surplus land and then purchasing a ‘purposed site’ close to town.
“So it wasn’t going to cost us money to set up,” Cr McKeown told Newsport.
“We were selling one parcel of land and go and buy another. The CMCA come in and they do all the infrastructure work that’s required, they then pay us rates, they then pay us lease amounts so Council actually earns a small income from land that we own where we don’t get that now.”
“They’ve got all the facilities so they don’t want to pay the price of a caravan park. They want a low cost, just a little bit of dirt where they can sit overnight and know they’re going to be safe.”
RV parks generate income for local areas
In his Council submission, Cr McKeown said other areas in the state which had established ‘no frills’ RV rest areas or parks in recent years are not looking back.
“I got a few comments from people from other shires who have recently put it in and they’re just all so happy with it; the numbers that are coming through are unbelievable,” he said.
“Bundaberg is one, where there were not an RV friendly town but the two towns outside on the highway were, and when they became friendly it’s just blown them away, the number of people and the time that they’re spending in the town and amount of money they’re spending in town.
“It hasn’t detracted from caravan parks because those people would not have come into town anyway to stay in the caravan parks – they’d just bypass Bundaberg.”
RV park proposal also has support from Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree’s Executive Officer, Tara Bennett, who said: “The current collection of Douglas Shire caravan parks provide a different offering to what RV owners seek and TPDD believes a new facility will compliment and indeed add to the significant drawcards the region currently has for travellers.”
CMCA disappointed at Douglas Shire
The Caravan and Motorhome Club said Douglas Shire becoming ‘RV Friendly’ would also mean the region would complete the circuit of its recommended areas to visit in far north Queensland, but Council is no longer looking to find suitable land for the CMCA to operate an RV park.
“This is disappointing because we are keen to find a site up there,” the CMCA’s business development officer, Sean Constable told Newsport.
“We were hoping to create a bit of a touring loop with Ingham, Innisfail, Mossman and Mareeba-Atherton. Our latest advice from council is that they will not be proceeding with the purchase of land that we could lease and develop.”
Mr Constable said towns and shires which have been put on its RV Friendly map have enjoyed major benefits.
“CMCA members tend to support those towns which are accredited through our RV Friendly Town program. If a town meets the criteria, it means that the town has long vehicle parking for shopping at the local retail centre, has a free dump point, potable water available, and has low-cost overnight camping available.
“All this lets travellers know that they are welcome, can stop and shop, or can stay and experience the town for a few nights. When planning their travels, members will look for RVFT places for these reasons.”