Camping chaos: farmers left to fend for themselves

Victoria’s crown land water frontages will become unregulated caravan and camping sites, with no one on the ground for day-to-day management, says Mitta Valley farmer Judy Cardwell

No boundaries: Farmers say they will be left without the back-up needed to deal with campers wandering on to their land, spooking livestock and partying into the night.

FROM September this year campers will be able to enter crown land water frontages without adjoining farmers’ permission.

There are no restrictions on numbers of campers, who under draft regulations will be allowed to stay for up to 28 days.

But will government officers be checking how long they stay?

And what’s to stop campers moving a couple of metres and staying for another 28 days, settling in for as long as they like?

They must camp 20 metres from a watercourse, but who will measure and enforce this?

Campers can even collect firewood to burn at a rate of 0.5 cubic metres of firewood daily, per person.

This contradicts the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s own rules, which state no one is allowed to collect firewood on crown land except in designated collection areas at set times of the year.

The Government even wants to let campers bring their dogs, which the regulations state must be tied up at all times.

But can you imagine a dog restrained for 28 days or longer?

If the dog gets loose and chases stock, does the farmer have the right to shoot it?

I would think there will be heavy penalties for the farmer and not the person who let the dog loose.

Campers will also be able to set tents to within 100m of adjoining landholders’ homes.

Sure there are noise disturbance regulations, which are overseen by the Environment Protection Authority, but will they send out an officer at 2am to quieten a wild party that could be terrifying your stock or disturbing you?

If there’s a drunken brawl the local police officer would have to call for backup from the closest major regional centre, and by the time they arrived any amount of damage could have been done.

The regulations allow campers to bury their faeces 50m from a watercourse, which will often take place where your animals are grazing, creating a major biosecurity breach.

We all know rubbish will be left behind.

Does anyone really believe this will be collected by DELWP or Victorian Fisheries Authority officers?

The regulations also state campers must leave gates as they find them. But we all know that this won’t always happen.

Who will be liable for stock escaping on to a road and possibly causing an accident?

Will DELWP or VFA be there to help get stock back?

Who will recompense the farmer for losses?

Imagine the effect of groups of campers, erecting tents, lighting campfires, partying with alcohol will have on our stock, which may well be terrified, break fences and very easily harm campers.

The VFA’s answer is that we should increase our public liability insurance.

Victoria’s crown land water frontages will turn into an unregulated caravan and camping parks with no one on the ground for day-to-day management in areas where stock are supposed to be grazing.

We all know that these regulations will simply not be enforced.

This legislation once again shows the great divide between most urban dwellers and the ever diminishing number of farmers who provide their food.

● This is an edited extract from Mitta Valley Landcare Group president and farmer Judy Cardwell’s address to the Eskdale community meeting on licensed water frontage camping