Gympie council puts brakes on Kandanga RV camping plans

Three years of effort to capitalise on a booming grey nomad tourism industry has finally come to fruition for Gympie Regional council, but plans for one key RV town have been put on hold. Find out why.

A years-long effort to capitalise on the booming grey nomad market has finally come to fruition, but not without an agreement to go back to the drawing board at the region’s most popular RV site.

Gympie Regional Council’s RV strategy, at least three years in the making, was adopted almost unanimously by councillors but with an agreement to delay any changes at Kandanga.

The future of RVs at the Mary Valley town has divided the town.

About half of the 68 submissions sent to the council about the strategy in the latest round of consultation came from Kandanga residents.

Of those responses, councillors were told there was a “50-50” split for and against what was being proposed by the council and a proposed second RV site in the town drew more criticism than support.

The report put before councillors said the town was “heavily visited” by campers using Paul Robeck Park and the Country Club.

Residents of Kandanga, which is home to one of the region’s most popular RV sites, have been put on hold after the community failed to agree on exactly how free camping should be managed in the town.

As a result of the mixed feedback the council has instead deferred adopting any new RV strategy in Kandanga until the region’s new planning scheme is rolled out.

Sustainability director Adrian Burns said the council had applied the brakes on the original draft’s plans for a new Kandanga RV site “rather than pushing ahead with something may not be accepted by the community”.

Plans to build an RV site at Carters Ridge were quashed due to overhanging trees, limited space and that it would potentially block access to the Ridgewood Rural Fire Brigade Shed.

The strategy applies to RVs staying for free on council owned land for no longer than 72 hours.

Eleven sites in total will be established across the region.

The Gympie Showgrounds has been flagged as the future home to an RV park capable of hosting up to 25 vans.

Several of the sites are already operating; new ones are earmarked for the Gympie Showgrounds, Amamoor, Gunalda, Kilkivan, Tin Can Bay, and a secondary Kandanga site.

Most sites are intended to host no more than 15 RVs, except for the Showgrounds – which will be able to cater for 25 – and the existing Kandanga site where the cap will be 10.

Dan Stewart was the only councillor to vote against adopting the strategy on “philosophical” grounds.

“People should pay their share,” Mr Stewart said.

“Why should businesses who invest millions of dollars be disadvantaged by people who are trying to get something for free?”

Originally published as Gympie council puts brakes on Kandanga RV camping plans