This story was in the Maitland Mercury.

Caravan and camping enthusiasts are passing by Maitland simply because there are few options for them to set up camp.

Maitland City Council is investigating the cost of establishing a free, short-term site with sewer and power facilities for a limited number of camper vans, close to the city centre, in response to the citys dire need for a destination caravan park.

A caravan park with tourist accommodation facilities and onsite camping where people can stop on the drive through Maitland is definitely something that we really do need, Maitland Tourism manager Rachel MacLucas said.

At the moment were losing people to Raymond Terrace, Cessnock and Singleton because theyre looking to stay in that sort of area for camping.

Maitland Mayor Peter Blackmore, himself a caravan enthusiast, said a tourist caravan park would set up the city to target the grey nomad.

He said the city was well located at the end of the freeway and at the junction of the New England Highway and the Pacific Highway for a destination stop.

We are missing out here in Maitland, especially when you look at the roads were on, and were going to have a connection to the new F3 link, Cr Blackmore said.

But the lynchpin is the availability of suitable land, with the risk of flood the major stalling factor.

Cr Blackmore said there was interest in setting up a caravan park close to the centre of Maitland, and he also suggested Thornton at the end of the freeway and Walka as possible sites.

Cr Steve Procter said he raised the idea of a dump zone with sewer and water connections to provide a free interim camping site.

He envisaged the cost of the project would be about $15,000, and was mooted for inclusion in the next budget.

It would ideally cater for about 12 vehicles, and the site would be registered in the Australian Free Camping Book.

There are a couple of options weve discussed for locations. My favourite is the area near Maitland Showground and Smyth Field, where theres some open space, water is available, and its close to town, Cr Procter said.

I have often wondered about our government organisations and the way they think.

If they have a showground that basically does nothing but cost money to maintain between shows, why they do not open these to the traveller.

Any costs recovered go back to the community. Any traveller that stops, adds to the economy of the town - win, win, win

Sure insurance, monitoring and infrastructure cost money for this to happen, but in my mind the cost recover is far better and it would be relatively easy to do.

Quite a lot of Showgrounds/Sports Grounds are open so that people can freecamp. Usually toilets only available, no showers, or power, but if you're self-sufficient, that's all you need for a single night. Cheers, xina.

xina wrote:

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Quite a lot of Showgrounds/Sports Grounds are open so that people can freecamp. Usually toilets only available, no showers, or power, but if you're self-sufficient, that's all you need for a single night.
Cheers,
xina.

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Good thought given that Maitland showground annually hosts the biggest caravan/RV/camping and 4wd show in the Hunter Valley (including Newcastle)

 

Have noted with alarm over recent times the number of CP that have closed or have become total restricted to full time residential.. With the rapid increase in all forms of RV purchases combined with the high number of GN"s on the road at any given time many towns without facilities for O/N of longer stays are losing out. The few parks that do remain are also pricing themselves out of the GN market or have built expensive cabins on their van sites, most of which remain empty, while vans pass by.

It would be good to see these showgrounds utilised a lot more, a lot are just there for the annual show.

To let travellers stay for a few dollars a night would do a lot to help with the upkeep of these, mostly unused areas.

Why can we all see the value in opening up showgrounds, and caravanners in general? No matter where we go we spend money. We can't grow our own vege's or make our own food. We have to shop, buy fuel, camp somewhere. Even free campers have to spend money sometimes. Fuel, vehicle maintenance, food supplies, dog or cat food, toilet paper, cleaning products, or vinegar. Even clothing if the weather changes. Everyone who makes the decisions sees caravans as slow money, so they shut us out, built cabins and the money comes in a whole lot quicker, but so do the overheads and maintenance. We pay to park and maintain our own rigs mostly, or we find a local buisness to help us out. This park I'm in now is on the market. Not as a park, but as real estate for development. Anyone got a spare $18m.? Cairns has already lost about 8 parks to development, shopping centres or apartment blocks. Then they have panic attacks when tourist numbers are down. Every town does the same thing, but still they reduce the van parks in the regions. Caravanners everywhere need to push the nomad barrow to spell out the benefits we nomads present to the communities we visit. Slow dollars are better than no dollars. If the parks kept their tarrifs down to a reasonable level more travellers would pull in to park up. It's a vicious circle we nomads understand, but the rest of the world is yet to catch up.

Worth a read is this report from the WA Parliament Economics and Industry Standing Committee:

http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/commit.nsf/(Evidence+Lookup+by+Com+ID)/BA522F4E795BACB7C82576500014A920?opendocument

It comes in two parts, both in pdf format.

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Cr Blackmore said there was interest in setting up a caravan park close to the centre of Maitland, and he also suggested Thornton at the end of the freeway and Walka as possible sites.

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The site known as 'Walka Water Works' is a very pleasant area and only needs a dump point, as it has in the past been used for camping.
My eldest daughter was married in the grounds three years ago and the facilities are great.
The biggest hurdle is the 'politics' of those currently running it and 'in house rivalry' preventing a very suitable site being utilsed to its full capacity.

Kevin p

I can remember going to Walka about seven years ago for a picnic and the smell was foul. I hope that side of it has improved but other than that, from memory it was shady and quiet and extremely pleasant.