Win-win for RV nomads and town

Free overnight camping for RV travellers and grey nomads will soon be rolled out just outside of Waroona in a bid to entice more visitors to the region.

The council voted in favour of moving the present overnight-camping trial site at Drakesbrook Weir and the showgrounds to the unused recreation reserve on Fouracre Street, between Millar and Palmerston streets.

The council’s decision will allow RV vehicles to stay at the camp site for up to 72 hours at a time.

The decision was made just days before the City of Bunbury released statistics from a survey into their own 12-month trial of free overnight camping for RVs.

A figure of $227,000 had been spent by 823 people who had received permits for the overnight rest areas, according to results from the Bunbury survey.

According to the survey more than 69 per cent of the Bunbury visitors who used the overnight rest areas were from interstate and almost 40 per cent were 65 years of age or older.

Waroona shire president Mike Walmsley said he hoped bringing the overnight camping spots into town would entice visitors to stay a little longer.

“They might spend a bit more time and a bit more money in town,” Cr Walmsley said.

He said the new site would be more user-friendly to the campers, and would prevent overlapping needs between the RV campers and local families wanting to use the showgrounds for parking during football season or community events.

Cr Walmsley also said the free camping was only for RV travellers, not campers in tents, as it minimised impacts at the site.

“The idea of an RV is that they are self contained,” he said.

“Once they roll out of town again, it doesn’t even look like they’ve been there.”

Shire staff will now approach the Department of Lands and Heritage to gain approval to use the Fouracre Street site.