Gympie council reveals tourist parks, campgrounds breaking rules

Plans to increase tourism offerings across the region have been tripped up amid revelations dozens of the region’s tourist parks are breaking rules.

Plans to increase tourism offerings across the region have been tripped up amid revelations dozens of the region’s tourist parks are running outside the rules.

Plans to increase the number of tourists and caravans without council permission are being sent packing amid revelations more than two dozen parks across Gympie are breaking the rules.

Gympie councillors had planned to allow the increase as part of a wider package of proposed changes to the planning scheme.

Their proposal would have doubled the number of caravans, tents, or cabins allowed on private land without needing to ask for council permission.

Staff are now asking councillors to drop this change due the number of parks which appear to be flaunting the rules.

The report, which will be tabled before councillors at Wednesday’s general meeting, says between 150 and 180 tourist parks are advertising or running across the region.

The council was dealing with compliance issues at 19 of them, and another 11 parks had been subject to customer complaints between January 2022 and November 2023.

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A Gympie Regional Council staff report says the council was dealing with compliance issues at 19 tourist parks across Gympie. Another 11 parks had been subject to customer complaints between January 2022 and November 2023.

These include parks running without council development approval at Pie Creek, Imbil, Kandanga Creek, Gunalda, Kia Ora, Glastonbury, Veteran, Mothar Mountain, Wolvi, Bells Bridge, Goomboorian, Gunalda, Moy Pocket, Amamoor Creek, and four sites at Amamoor.

Some of these parks are offering more than 30 campsites.

One park at Greens Creek has drawn a complaint about three “unlawful” shipping containers and two permanent caravans running at the site, with no toilets on offer.

Complaints were also lodged about overcrowding at a Gunalda campsite, especially at weekends, and illegal camping at Rainbow Beach with one site hosting up to four permanent caravans for two years.

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Complaints were also lodged about overcrowding at a Gunalda campsite, especially at weekends, and illegal camping at Rainbow Beach with one site hosting up to four permanent caravans for two years.

Campsites running at Veteran, Amamoor Creek, Widgee, Kandanga Creek, and Pie Creek had been subject to complaints, and at Bella Creek one permanent camer had reportedly established several permanent structures apparently without council permission.

“Many of the sites currently being … advertised as operational tourist parks do not have development approval,” the report says.

Less than 50 of the campgrounds advertised across Gympie offered toilet facilities, the report says.

The staff report says there were benefits to the council’s proposal, but community concern about the impact of such an increase given ongoing environmental and amenity concerns.

It recommends keeping the existing threshold to trigger an application to the council at more than four caravans or campsites.

Originally published as Gympie council reveals tourist parks, campgrounds breaking rules