Bayside blues – go home, locals beg

A CONCERNED Indented Head resident has expressed anger at the apparent lack of forceable removal of holidays makers and campers from Bellarine Bayside Holiday Parks.
“Unfortunately, there has been no movements of caravans being removed as I have seen people sitting in deckchairs in the sun or drinking or socialising in the foreshore of Indented Head camping areas,” she said, wishing to remain anonymous.
“The caravans are normally removed by the owners once the season finishes after the Anzac Day long weekend and they return on the Melbourne Cup long weekend. Other friends in St Leonards have said the same thing that they have seen people ignoring the government rules of stage 2.
“They’re sitting outside their annexes drinking or eating and no effort has been made to bring annexes down or physically take the vans away. It is not a holiday as stated by the federal and state governments and these people are flaunting the rules.”
Heidi Snow from Bellarine Bayside said they can assure the community and concerned residents that the parks have indeed followed local, state and federal directives.
“Our parks are closed, and they have been closed since midnight last Wednesday. No one is staying overnight. We have security on call,” Ms Snow said.
“It looks like there is a lot of stuff because our campers have a lot of stuff – which they’ve been actively packing, they’re compliant with the directions given.
“We were in the process of moving on people that were here, we gave them a deadline which was Sunday. People have a lot of equipment they come down and set up, then go back to work. So, for some it was a case of packing up when they could get back down here to do that.”
Ms Snow said their campers were aware it was a government directive and had responded accordingly.
The Indented Head local who made the initial complaint said it was campers and holidaymakers’ “careless attitude” that was endangering small coastal communities.
“We don’t want people coming down from Melbourne to their holiday houses, or sites and going to our shops and beaches and having parties and congregations,” she said.
“Our local IGA and Safeway were inundated with people over the weekend. There are so many elderly and vulnerable people in our community, and I couldn’t get their groceries because the shops were packed. Stay home, a holiday house or site is not a permanent residence.”