Well I for one have emailed the council complaining about the closure.
In the extreme it's short sighted and the council is closing the showgrounds because of one CP owner.
I am sure the council would have a budget for tourism to attract people to the area.
Now those who will bypass because of the closure of the showgrounds would say it's money lost to local businesses because of a CP owner who is not supplying what the public want nowadays.
What about the rest of the businesses who will now lose the patronage of the travelling public who now won't visit the town.
Yet another council jumping to the tune of a very small section of the community.
An endangered species the 'CP owner' who is not changing with the times.
I wonder what links"cp owner" has with council,seems a bit sus to me.Closing the showgrounds certainly wont get me into thier caravan park but it will ensure I drive straight through.
I have also contacted the Mudgee council and informed them that I would be bypassing Mudgee and if most caravanners did the same it would be detrimental to other businesses in town.
I'll just by-pass the town and inform friends and fellow travellers why i am doing this and i'm sure many will follow by-passing this town .I have in the past camped and used motels in the town
Up to a third of grey nomads will bypass Mudgee as a result of limits on camping and higher fees at the Mudgee Showground, according to campers at the Gulgong Showground on the weekend. The Mudgee Showground camping restrictions were a hot topic at the Gulgong Showgrounds, where around 35 van owners were spending the weekend.
Members of the Prospect Caravan Club said higher fees and uncertainty about whether camping would be allowed at the showground at a specific time meant many travellers would avoid Mudgee - and take their spending money elsewhere.
Club president Des Heuston said many caravanners preferred a rustic but clean showground such as Gulgong to commercial parks.
The majority of caravanners and campers dont really need the heated pool and the jumping castles, he said. All we require is a clean area and a reasonable site.
Because caravans are getting bigger, tourist parks are getting very tight for some vans.
Mr Heuston said caravanners planned their trips well in advance and budgeted carefully.
Confirming all tourist parks were full before booking into the showground would simply put Mudgee in the too hard basket, he said.
Campers said news of councils decision would spread through word of mouth and via caravanners websites.
As soon as word gets out that Mudgee prices are now expensive and its extremely difficult to get in [to the showground] and you must go to a caravan park, why would you bother? Mr Heuston said.
Under those circumstances, people will bypass the whole area.
Mr Heuston said Mudgee businesses would suffer as a result of the decision.
A recent Caravan and Motorhome Association survey showed caravanners spend an average of $665 per van per week in the towns where they stay, he said.
There are about 35 vans in the Gulgong Showground and were all buying jams and cakes, weve all been to the IGA [Franklins].
If we all spent $100 - and I can assure you my wife has spent more - thats $3500 well leave in the town.
Mr Heuston said on a recent trip involving around 15 vans, members kept receipts and found the group spent more than $5000 in total.
Thats all spending money that Mudgee is going to lose.
Camper Peter Zaia of Toongabbie pointed out events which attracted caravanners, such as the Small Farm Field Days or wineries, were also available in other areas.
People will fuel up out of town and go straight past Mudgee, he said.
Why would you go and stay there? The side of the road looks pretty good, doesnt it?
I'm not aware of all the details of the reasons behind the Mudgee's council decision (I don't think I'm the only one) but I am familiar with another council that also shut down camping at that town's showground. On that occasion the reason was due to non-compliance with the relevant regulations, in other words it was in effect operating illegally. The council minutes stated on that occasion that if the showground complied it would then permit camping.
If a council receives a complaint from anyone (including a caravan park owner) that another caravan park's (including a showground) operation is non-compliant it is forced to act. It can't apply one set of standards for a private CP and another for a showground, doing so would invite litigation.
Most showgrounds are not operated by councils but by an independent trust usually on land specially zoned for that purpose.
Unfortunately this doesn't help those of us looking for budget camping. I post this knowing it may draw a "shoot the messenger" response.
Jim
-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 15th of June 2012 08:33:47 AM
Have stayed in 2 of the 3 CP`s in recent years and all have been comfortably full, so sounds like another greedy park owner who beleives we owe him a living !!
Gulgong SG is good, great guy running the place and unlikely to close in the near future as the only CP in town has been taken over my mining interests.
-- Edited by whiteman on Friday 15th of June 2012 05:07:08 PM
-- Edited by whiteman on Friday 15th of June 2012 05:07:40 PM
Jim not having a go at you but I would like to give my side of the argument.
I feel the biggest problem is that we have one group of businesses that want all the money for themselves and have devised a way to try and force all travelers to use their facilities. It does not matter what the customer wants, it is what they have to offer and you pay the price they want to charge you. They would not like the hotels and motels asking for the same rights though.
At Mudgee if the traveler wishes to continue to use the showgrounds then they propose to charge you (I Think ) $2 extra than the cost if you booked at the caravan jail.
If the pricing was a fair price for a fair product then that would be OK.
If you want to use the caravan park then do by all means and they gain money (and so does the town eventually) but if you don't want to stay in their jail and you wish to just stay in the showgrounds at a reduced rate for a reduced service then you should have the opportunity. If I want to bush camp (which I do) then I find a bush site in the council area.
If this bush camp is available and I use it then I ALWAYS make sure that the municipality gets at least $50 and often more of my custom. If there is no rest stop then they get nothing.
It is similar with all these discussions we should all look at both sides.
If the council decide we have to stop at the park then we also have the option to stop somewhere else.
The problem they will find is once the tourists stop coming they will want to change the rules and they will find that bad news has the ability to travel faster than good news, plus many travelers once they find a new good spot they will broadcast it to others they meet and they and others will not return to the old place where the ban was put in place.
Barcaldine in QLD found out this as they now have little tourist trade since the CP got the showgrounds closed. Once a bustling tourist mecca it is now a tourist ghost town according to my reports.
If the CP customers would accept that some of us don't want to, and often WILL not use the parks and accept that we are all different then we could confront the issue of the cheaper sites being closed down together and get some sensible result LOL. Consider if all us campers are forced to use the dwindling supply of CP sites then next time YOU may not be able to get a site in your favorite park.
We are all travelers and we are all different (thank christ for that) so we need different facilities.
Regards Brian
__________________
11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
As I presently live in the area until my wife & I hit the road full time shortly, I decided to drive by all three of the Mudgee CP's this morning. All looked to be pretty well full of either cabins or permanent vans with built on annexes. Maybe, just maybe they could rake up 140 sites for travellers between them but from what I could see from the road I'd doubt it. Bugger Mudgee anyway, Gulgong is a far nicer place to stay (slightly biassed opinion lol).
__________________
Love the bush & our native environment. Conservationist, not a bloody Greenie.
Thank you for your email in regard to camping at the Mudgee Showgrounds. Council has not stopped camping at the showgrounds in Mudgee. What Council is doing is ensuring that those members of our community who have invested commercially into a business such as the camping grounds get first opportunity for campers to stay at their premises. It is inappropriate in Council's opinion that Council be in competition to those businesses. In fact, Council believes if it remains firmly in competition to them it could in time put those camping grounds out of business which would be even worse for Mudgee and the surrounding region. So once the other camping grounds are full, Council will accept bookings at the Mudgee Showgrounds. Council has increased the fees so that the fee structure is the same as the privately owned camping grounds.
I am writing this information to you as it is a concern to me that you seem to have been supplied with inaccurate information.
Thank you for your reply There are those like myself who choose not to stay in caravan parks as such We much prefer camping in bush camps and show grounds We are mostly self-sufficient and do not need all the facilities that caravan parks have to offer A lot of us simply cannot afford to stay in caravan parks every night
By not allowing the show grounds to be used for the sake of one business you have jeopardised the income generated to the whole community and other businesses Caravaners will simply not come to Mudgee and will stay at nearbye towns which do offer cheap affordable camping areas
It is of great concern that you have taken this decision as to many grey nomads this decision will mean that Mudgee will no be a no go area.
You may be protecting the interests of one business but you are effecting all others as now many travelers will not visit your town and will purchase fuel and food in other areas where they would have visited and spent this money in Mudgee. I will post your reply (with your permission) on some of the RV forums I am part of but I am sure that my thoughts will be the feelings of most that visit there.
It is the through the efforts of the caravan owners lobby that many of our rest stops etc are being closed down and many towns are now feeling the results of these bans.
Once the travellers stop coming they will not return as they find better more friendly towns.
Many of us don't want or like the caravan parks as they offer nothing to us and many can not fit in them anyhow as we are too long and often too high. The total of this group will be lost straight away, plus many travel with animals and it is hard to find places that accept animals as well as some prefer to have the option that showgrounds and bush camps offer.
Any group with a non complying will mean the whole group will pass through.
On the Forums there has already been many suggestions of towns in your area that make us feel welcome so it will not effect me as I will go to these towns.
Not sure if you would be prepared to pay the top fee for inferior product but I am sure I and many travelers are not interested.
Would you go to a restaurant with inferior food and surroundings and then be prepared to pay the same as the top restaurant in the state.
"
Regards Brian
__________________
11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
Thanks for your response, but it seems we will still bypass Mudgee. Like most grey nomads we cannot afford nor do we need to stay at caravan parks where we pay top dollar for things we dont need, i.e. swimming pools, kids jumping pillows, bbqs etc. How are we supposed to know when the caravan parks are full? What do we do in the meantime? Obviously the answer is to drive right through Mudgee and stay somewhere else. Thank you for clearing that up!
