Council confirms illegal New Year’s campers stayed overnight at Eastern Beach

A frustrated local woman said she heard campers snoring while on a dawn walk at Eastern Beach as council admitted the problem of people staying overnight had returned.

There were hundreds of people at the Geelong waterfront on New Year’s Day. Picture: Mark Wilson

Illegal campers have once again returned to Geelong’s waterfront, with several groups spread across multiple tents staying overnight at Eastern Beach on New Year’s Eve.

Council said it was aware of the law-breaking visitors and had taken action as one frustrated local, who visited at dawn on Wednesday, told of hearing loud snoring from some of the tents dotted across the grass.

The makeshift tent city was sprawled across the picnic area between the Eastern Beach carpark and the children’s pool.

Overnight campers during summer have been a repeated issue at the beach.

Geelong woman Jenny Clark said she came across a group of tents when she walked past about 5.30am on Wednesday.

“I saw nine clusters of tents, and in each cluster here would have been four to five tents,” Ms Clark said.

“I walked up to all the tents, and they’re all snoring, and there’s remnants of all the food, I had a really good look.”

Ms Clark took this photo of tents at Eastern Beach about 5.30am.

Ms Clark said the campers prevented locals from using the area.

“It’s a facility for everybody, every ratepayer in Geelong, to enjoy,” she said.

“If you go down there now you can’t find a spot because they’ve let so many people stay down there.”

Staying overnight at Eastern Beach is prohibited, with a $592.77 fine for illegal camping.

Signs posted around the area explain the rules and the penalty.

City of Greater Geelong acting chief executive Tennille Bradley confirmed some people had stayed overnight at the site, adding council had been monitoring behaviour at the waterfront through CCTV and an “in-person presence”.

Geelong’s Eastern Beach on January 1, with people and tents across the foreshore. Picture: Mark Wilson

“We are aware that the Eastern Beach precinct is extremely popular at this time of year,” Ms Bradley said.

“We have observed that the majority of tents and similar structures are set up early in the morning, and are not overnight camping.

“There have been a small number of cases of overnight camping, and our officers have directed the sites to be packed up.

“Officers have the authority to issue infringement notices when these directives are not followed.”

On Wednesday afternoon there were tents set up across Eastern Beach.

Max, 6, and Harrison, 8, enjoyed the New Year’s scenes. Picture: Mark Wilson

Most were modest day set-ups, but others had facilities such as generators and barbecues.

Some of the tents from Ms Clark’s pictures were still there.

The large numbers of structures made it difficult to ascertain how many, if any, were planning on staying the night, or had camped on New Year’s Eve.

One beachgoer from Herne Hill said the tents weren’t an issue so long as they weren’t staying the night.

“It is certainly (a tent city), but I imagine most aren’t here to stay” he said.

“It’s great if they’re just staying the day, but it isn’t a campground.”

Similar problems arose in 2020 when large campsites appeared at Eastern Beach over the New Year, and then again in 2021.

Originally published as Council confirms illegal New Year’s campers stayed overnight at Eastern Beach