Petition seeks answers on caravan park bookings

DOZENS of siteholders at a Point Lonsdale camping ground are worried their holidays next summer are under threat and have urgently petitioned the Borough of Queenscliffe council to provide them with answers.

Councillors received the petition about bookings at Royal Park in 2023-24 at their meeting on Wednesday this week.

Running along Point Lonsdale Road, Royal Park has 98 campsites among the moonah trees that back directly onto stretches of beachfront, and operates seasonally between November and April.

The petition, presented to the borough on February 9, has almost universal support from Royal Park campers – according to the report presented to councillors, the petition was signed by 96 people who were “all listed having camping sites”.

Petitioners expressed their “serious concern” and sought a response from the borough about bookings at Royal Park for the 2023-24 holidays.

“This request is in response to the extreme uncertainty and anxiety created by advice from the Tourist Park Office that rebooking for the 2023-24 season will not be accepted as normal,” the petition states.

“Instead, we have been advised ‘Campers will receive an email mid year (after tax time, as it was stated in one conversation) advising of arrangements for next summer’.

“When asked how campers were supposed to plan for next year, the response was ‘People may seek to book elsewhere and see what happens at Royal Park’.

“This is hardly an encouraging or appropriate message, particularly for the vast majority of campers at Royal Park who are long-term customers of the borough, with many families having camped here for 50 years or more.”

An “absence of meaningful communication”, the petition states, has led to an “information vacuum that is resulting in significant anxiety with rumours rife”.

These rumours include that Royal Park was closing permanently, there would be a limit on how long people could stay, there would be a ballot for camp sites, or only small vans would be allowed, among others.

“Royal Park is a much-loved venue for family holidays and a large percentage of campers return year after year, having established strong friendships with people from across the state,” the petition states.

“Campers make a significant. financial contribution not only to the borough but to the entire local community but changes such as those listed above are likely to impact people returning if they are unable to plan to camp with family and friends.

“We appreciate that changes can and do occur but we believe that the borough has a responsibility to be more transparent and up-front with its loyal customers.”

The petitioners stated they would welcome a meeting with the mayor and councillors to discuss the issue.

Some changes to Royal Park are flagged in the draft Queenscliffe Tourist Parks Management and Operation Review, which the council received in March 2022.

According to the review, two options are presented for Royal Park.

The second would reduce the number of sites to 79 under a recommendation to “rationalise the number of tourist sites and create larger more uniform tourist sites”, which is rated as a medium-term priority to be done within the next two to three years.

The council will consider the matter further at its March meeting.