New campsites planned for Eyre Peninsula in wake of West Coast tourist trashing over New Year’s period

Extra campsites and upgraded facilities are planned across the Eyre Peninsula after the area was swamped by visitors who left rubbish and human waste behind.

Capers at Coles Point on the Eyre Peninsula. Picture: Murray Kelsh

Campsite upgrades planned across the Eyre Peninsula could help accommodate the swathes of extra people exploring SA, including some trashing our coastline.

Lower Eyre Peninsula Council chief executive Rod Pearson said an upgrade of Farm Beach campsite and a new one planned at Fishery Bay were earmarked as part of a bid to upgrade camping options all over the peninsula.

Those projects were flagged to happen over the next 12 months, and the council is also considering building another site at Coles Point and putting in more bins and toilets.

It follows locals raising concerns that dozens of extra campers were turning up along the coastline over the holiday period, and some were defecating in sand dunes and leaving their rubbish behind.

Rubbish left at Greenly Beach near Port Lincoln. Picture: Murray Kelsh

Mr Pearson said the council had responded by picking up several ute-loads of rubbish and dumping it, with locals helping in the efforts.

However, he said no amount of bins could have coped with the amount of waste left behind by an “unprecedented” number of tourists who turned up at the West Coast over the New Year’s period.

“With less interstate travel there are more people on the roads and it all came to a head over the New Year with more people in those vulnerable spots that are quite isolated and don’t have facilities for dealing with those volumes of people,” Mr Pearson said.

“Our message is that people that are going to isolated places need to plan to take their rubbish home. There’s no way that with the number of people that went to these places on the weekend our rubbish collection was going to cope.”

The council is working with Regional Development Australia and other districts across the peninsula to seek government funding for more camping offerings across the region.

Campers at Greenly Beach near Port Lincoln. Picture: Murray Kelsh

There are 16 campsites under consideration for upgrades across the Eyre Peninsula under the “Eyes on Eyre” project.

Coorong Mayor Paul Simmons said about 15 bags of rubbish were left at Salt Creek over the New Year’s period.

His council was keen to discuss with the State Government the need for more facilities for people travelling around the Coorong, suggesting a rest stop with toilets and bins at Salt Creek.

“People are going wherever they can – the just pull over,” he said.

Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly at Emu Bay. Picture: Brad Fleet

“It’s 145km from Kingston to Meningie and some people can’t last that long. The question then becomes should someone provide toilets and who?”

Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly said his council, too, was experiencing problems with bins overflowing at its campsites in Emu and Vivonne bays as more tourists visited the region. People were also using the bushes at Emu Bay as a toilet because they could not be bothered walking from their campsites to the nearby bathrooms.

“The problem is we have all these people come, which is very welcome – we just can’t get rid of the waste,” he said.

Mr Pengilly called upon the State Government to install bins at its national parks to address rubbish issues.

A Government spokesman said increased visitors were critical for the state’s economy though it was disappointing a “small number” were doing the wrong thing.

“We are investing more than $130m in South Australia’s parks – the most in the state’s history – to improve infrastructure and help better protect the natural environment,” he said.

“We are working with all levels of government as well as local industry to deliver projects right across South Australia from the Flinders Ranges to Kangaroo Island.”

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