Mornington Peninsula camping: locals offering spots for $300 a night
Campers are desperately wanting to pitch their tent on the Mornington Peninsula this Christmas, with a cheeky social media post revealing the potential emergence of a black market for sites.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A black market in camp sites is emerging on the Mornington Peninsula in the wake of a controversial ban on Christmas camping along parts of the foreshore.
Just days after Mornington Peninsula Shire Council decided to postpone its camping season until February, entrepreneurial locals took to social media to offer their own properties to campers.
A light hearted post to a private Facebook page on Saturday asking followers “who is renting their backyard to campers” quickly gained traction.
“There’s a vacant block just near me. I’m happy to rent it,” one man posted.
“I’d happily do that! We have a huge back yard and an outside toilet and shower,” another page member said.
A woman following the post asked to be “inboxed for pricing”.
“We have a camper trailer so would be roll in roll out,” she said.
Another person on the thread suggested land owners charge $300 a night or up to $4200 per fortnight for the privilege.
“Remember people from Melbourne who believe this peninsula is paradise will be desperate to holiday down here and will pay those prices if they want to holiday down here bad enough,” the post continued.
“Some people pay $2500-$3000 per week for a two-bedroom unit across Christmas and New Year.
“If you provide amenities and space for a caravan with access to power during a time that they aren’t allowed to camp I think the premium charges will be sufficient to those with money!”
A powered site at Rosebud foreshore is $65 a night, or $39 a week during peak period which was to run from December 19 to January 31.
A non-powered site at Rosebud for the same period is $50 a night or $300 a week.
Not everyone thought the plan to rent out private land was a good idea.
Some suggested campers visit Gippsland instead and support communities affected by the recent bushfires.
Others said the move was “greedy” and could lead to a coronavirus outbreak.
Under current Victorian rules property owners wishing to charge campers to use their land must meet the same regulations as commercial caravan parks.
These include providing the following;
SHOWERS and toilets.
HOT water.
SEWERAGE or septic systems.
LIT roadways and paths.
AN on-site manager to be on hand during “office hours”.
The council has been contacted.
MORE NEWS
CAMPING BAN ‘FINAL NAIL IN COFFIN’ FOR TRADERS