Yankalilla Council’s popular Rapid Bay campsite to stay open under new management agreement

Nearly 9000 people backed a push to keep the seaside campground open and now the local council has made a decision on its future.

The much-loved Rapid Bay Campground will stay open, despite a legal letter from a nearby ratepayer who called for the site to be shut down.

Yankalilla Council on Tuesday night voting to keep the campsite open and strike an agreement for a campsite manager to look after the property for the next 2-3 years.

Questions over its future in May prompted Cape Jervis Progress Association chairwoman Lauren Barrington to launch a petition calling for the campsite to remain open.

Since then, it’s amassed almost 9000 signatures.

Yankalilla Council chief executive Nigel Morris said the council had not heard back from the ratepayer after responding to their legal letter in May.

Rapid Bay Campground. Picture: Supplied

“If it’s not a campground I believe that it would just be used for illegal camping and it would probably cause more issues than it was before,” Mr Morris said.

“That’s what happened when it was closed during Covid – people were leaving their rubbish there.”

In May, a report to councillors said Mr Morris had received a letter from a law firm acting for a Cygnet Place resident, asking the council to close the campground.

It requested the council “immediately refrain from causing suffering or permitting the use of the subject land for a public access camping and caravan ground”.

The popular holiday spot can attract hundreds of people at a time and concerns had been raised by some ratepayers about noise and rubbish.

The council’s lawyer wrote back to the Cygnet Place ratepayer saying the use of the land as a campsite was lawful and would continue.

However, councillors had asked for a report on the pros and cons of keeping the site open, before deciding on its long-term future.

Mr Morris’s report this week said apart from spurring illegal camping, closing the site would leave people with nowhere to stay if they travelled to the area to see leafy sea dragons at the “world-class diving site”.

It said local businesses would also suffer, along with the campers who loved the area.

On the plus side, if it closed, the council would save money in running costs, the site could be used for something else and some residents would be happier initially – until illegal camping started.

Mrs Barrington said the campground was a special place for many who loved the unique, “off-grid” experience it offered and was pleased it would stay open.

“It’s such a fabulous part of Australia,” she said.

“The local businesses will be stoked – they were very concerned about losing income.

“People shop at the local Foodland and might stop at the bakery and spend money in local eateries – the concern was across the board.”

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