News
Camping fail …but we told you so!

THE State Government’s “$9 million investment” in a first summer of “free camping”, announced last October for all of its 131 Parks Victoria campgrounds, has been a notable failure.

However, some say the policy might still be salvageable with better systems.

Regulars at the spectacularly located Bear Gully Campground, on the shores of Waratah Bay in South Gippsland for example, described their arrival at the popular camping spot last week as “pretty weird”.

“Yeah look, it was pretty weird. We usually show up at this time of the year and it’s teaming with people. Not this year,” said a couple from Melbourne with three young children.

“It’s been all the talk of the camping ground,” they said.

“There’s a lot of great camping sites here that have been left vacant all week,” was another response.

Mark and Naomi Greenwood, also of Melbourne, said an article in The Age during the week, by Liam Mannix, rang true of their experiences at the Jamieson Creek Campground, near Wye River on the Great Ocean Road, a few weeks ago, and at Bear Gully during the past week.

“I went on the Parks Vic website at 10.05am back in October, the day the bookings opened and got the last site available at Bear Gully,” said Naomi.

“We paid $45, I think, and got our money back, but when we got here, there were a lot of empty sites, despite the fact that the website said it was still full.

“We looked it up to see if we could stay for another night but there was nothing available.

“By rights, the camping ground should be full again this coming week, but as you can see, there are still a lot of sites empty,” she said, at about 1pm on Sunday, January 12.

“We’ve had a lovely time. There’s a relaxed vibe, it’s quiet and the scenery is epic. We’d have gladly paid,” said Mark.

“We went to Jamieson Creek between Christmas and New Year, where we’d booked two sites but cancelled one on the website without any problem. But clearly some people have booked and simply not turned up here which is disappointing for those that might have liked to use the site.”

The story has been the same at the state’s most popular camping spot, Wilsons Promontory, where the usually jam-packed Tidal River campground in particular has witnessed dozens of no shows.

The Age article quotes Wilsons Prom regular Paul Lindeman estimating that between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of campsites have been left vacant over the usually hectic New Year period.

“It’s disappointing when I know a lot of family and friends who missed out on getting a site,” he told The Age.

Naomi Greenwood said friends of theirs had exactly that experience.

“A couple we know wanted to join family and friends at the Prom but missed out on a site and ended up staying somewhere else. They had a nice time but would have preferred spending time together.”

Parks Victoria’s acting executive director of visitor experience, Jenny Hunter, has claimed however that the program has been a success, noting that the agency had “introduced a range of new measures to encourage people to cancel their booking if they decide not to go camping”.

Her comments are in keeping with remarks made by the Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos in December last year.

“Since the announcement, there has been an 115 percent increase in Parks Victoria campsite bookings, as Victorians take advantage of the chance to stay and explore some of the state’s most iconic destinations from Wilsons Promontory to Lake Eildon.”

So, bookings are up, but arrivals are down.

Professor Nitika Garg, a consumer behaviour expert at the University of NSW, told The Age that the government “should have seen it coming”.

“When the booking is made free, there’s no downside to making it and not keeping it,” she said.

“Essentially, your intentions can be vague but because there’s zero cost, it doesn’t hurt to act on them and assume that you would be able to go ahead with the behaviour at a later date.”

Eastern Victoria MP Melina Bath said just that in an article in the Sentinel-Times last November which foreshadowed the problem of people booking sites at camping grounds around the state and then changing their mind without penalty later.

“People booking sites in national parks and state reserves and not turning up is a real possibility and potentially another unintended consequence of this ill-thought-out scheme, more designed to get votes than really helping people get a holiday who need it most,” said Ms Bath.

However, while the first run at free camping has been a qualified failure, some of the Bear Gully campers contacted by the Sentinel-Times this week said it was worth salvaging.

“Offering some incentive to cancel, if you’ve decided not to go, and making the website more user friendly would help.

“As would having more park rangers who could report the no shows but that’s going to cost the government even more, isn’t it?”

Set against the backdrop of Wilsons Promontory and right on the beach at Waratah Bay, Bear Gully is a hard-to-beat location for a family holiday.

Latest stories