Key camping park sites shut down in coronavirus control measures
A series of key camping and caravan parks are being shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Camping and caravan parks are the latest casualties in the COVID-19 pandemic, with a string of sites temporarily shutting down.
In the Yankakilla region, chief executive Nigel Morris said the council-owned Jetty Caravan Park, Normanville and Rapid Bay campground would close as of Wednesday, March 25.
The Second Valley and Wirrina Cove holiday parks – both privately managed – will also close.
“At Rapid Bay you can get up 500 people there – there’s just two toilets,” Mr Morris said.
“It just wasn’t going to work – they couldn’t continually clean the toilets and come Easter everyone was going to pile down there.”
At the Jetty Caravan Park, there were other issues such as not having enough space for people to safely distance themselves from one another in the camp kitchen.
The council expects to face an increase in people illegally camping or setting up their holiday vehicles at public parks in the coming weeks, when grey nomads have fewer places to stay.
“I think the sites were worried about what’s going to happen at Easter because that’s when everyone says, ‘Right, let’s get away from it all and go and cheaply camp’,” Mr Morris said.
“I was talking to another (SA council) CEO and he was saying they had a group of Victorians arrive and say they were going to self-isolate there. People are feeling fine so they keep going but we don’t know when we’ve got sick.”
Karoonda East Murray Council is also closing the Karoonda Caravan & Cabin Park in the state’s South-East.
Belair National Park Caravan Park manager Jenna Harris said her park was open only to people travelling through the area and in need of somewhere to stay – not leisure travellers – in a bid to reduce numbers on-site.
It was not taking in people self-isolating and had taken extra measures to ensure safety, such as closing a communal TV room and limiting numbers in the camp kitchen.
Meantime, Mr Morris said the council had turned off its water fountains and was also closing its public barbecues to minimise the health risks.
michelle.etheridge@news.com.au
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