Locals react after council's big parking change to stop illegal camping at tourist hotspot
Further restrictions will come into place from next week as Noosa Council looks to crackdown on the problem of camping in car parks.
As illegal camping continues to create tension at tourist hotspots around Australia, one Queensland council has introduced yet another parking restriction in a bid to stamp out the contentious problem.
Four-hour parking restrictions will soon be in place at the popular Noosa Spit car park to "prevent the monopolising" of car park bays, with council getting rid of the previous unlimited parking between 4 am and 10 pm to "give everyone a fair go".
Noosa Shire Council parking officers will enforce the limit and signage will be installed from December 3, commencing a six-month trial. It's the latest move by local authorities to crackdown on illegal camping in the area which is popular with foreign backpackers and domestic nomads.
"The trial is about giving more residents and visitors a reasonable opportunity to find a car park in this area to enjoy the beaches," Clint Irwin, from the Noosa Council said.
The rise in illegal camping has not only made it increasingly more difficult to find a park but long-stay visitors have also caused "damage to the environment" which council says is being taken seriously.
Latest move on illegal camping causes stir among locals
The decision has sparked a debate among locals, with many praising the change by council.
"There's no need for a trial, this initiative will free up spaces so we can all enjoy the spit without being greedy and hogging spots overnight," one person wrote online, while many others pushed for even stricter parking limits of two hours.
However others expressed concerns over the council's ability to enforce another restriction and questioned whether resources would be stretched. "Why introduce new limits when you can't even manage what is already in place?" one Noosa resident questioned.
Councils continue to push hard against illegal camping
Noosa Shire Council continues to grapple with illegal camping as the area has been overrun with tourists parking overnight in campervans. The council increased parking fines to $309 last August in a bid to deter the behaviour and have threatened to tow vehicles caught regularly breaking the rules.
Elsewhere in Queensland, Logan City Council, just south of Brisbane, recently closed off public bathrooms at an overpopulated park which had become a go-to for the homeless as well as travellers and van lifers.
The problem has reared it's head in other parts of the country too, with the Town of Cambridge council in Perth controversially turning off the hot water at beach showers for three weeks to deter illegal campers using the facilities.
The popular resort town of Exmouth on Western Australia's North West Coast announced it would inject $200,000 in a bold new plan to build a new campground as illegal camping has impacted vegetation growth in the area.
Illegal camping by the numbers:
Victoria: 2,936 reports
New South Wales 2,048 reports
Queensland with 1,610 reports
Western Australia 636 reports
South Australia 136 reports
Tasmania 34 reports
(reported via the Snap Send Solve app)
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