Shellharbour mayor Marianne Saliba wants her council to look into whether it would be possible to turn the city’s sports fields into makeshift campsites.
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Inspired by her own travels in a van around Australia last Christmas, Cr Saliba asked staff to prepare a report on all possible open space and sportsfields within walking distance of town centres in Shellharbour.
These, she said at Tuesday night’s meeting, could potentially be converted into “Seasonal Camping Areas”, for use outside sports seasons.
“Now that I have become a grey nomad with a bus, and I travel around different states when I have a little bit of time, I’ve discovered some places that do this really well,” she said.
“They might have a sports field or a showground that’s not being used, and what they do is charge them a small fee, sometimes if it’s just for a completely self-contained vehicle they might charge you $10 for the night, but if you want to use their showers they might charge $20 a night.”
She said Scout Willoughby cricket pitch, which is opposite Shellharbour Surf Club, and Ron Costello football oval would make ideal campgrounds, with vans setting up around the outside of the fields.
“As a city, the ovals cost us a lot of money, and there could be a chance to put some money back into the football fields’ maintenance and services,” she said.
Cr Saliba said the difference between a self-contained van and a traditional caravan meant the city could cash in on the motorhome market without affecting commercial tourist parks.
“Some people have said ‘won’t this affect caravan parks’ but the people that use these are people who might go and park on the side of the road for nothing anyway,” she said.
At the end of last year, the Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA) – which highlights various “RV friendly” towns across the country to its 70,000-strong membership – estimated there were about 620,000 registered recreational vehicles in Australia.
“I’d like to look at us becoming an RV friendly community, because what all this does is brings people to our city,” Cr Saliba said.
“But as part of that you need to have these kind of facilities.
“The benefit of having free or low cost camp sites means more people will come, they might be inclined to stay in town for a few more days and they will be more inclined to spend money in supermarkets and restaurants.”
The CMCA said their members spent about $770 a week when travelling on the road, while data from Tourism Research Australia showed the most popular activity among caravan and camping visitors was eating out at a restaurant or cafe.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, Liberal councillor Nathan Cattell said he supported the mayor’s motion, but asked that council staff investigate the possible financial implications for other caravan park operators.
“It is a big movement across Australia, the grey nomads,” he said.
Councillors carried Cr Saliba’s motion unanimously.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
