TALK OF THE TOWN
LOCAL PEOPLE, LOCAL S TORIES STARTS TODAY
SANDY beaches, pineapples, delicious fish and chips and thriving community centres are some of the hallmarks of Townsville City Council’s Division 1. With a large population of retirees, volunteers are the lifeblood of communities like Rollingstone, Bluewater and Balgal Beach. A good half an hour drive from Townsville’s inner suburbs, these places have their own social clubs, community hall dinners and festivals. In times of crisis they are well- equipped, with generators and a ready group of volunteers in the SES and the Rural Fire Service. VICTORIA NUGENT headed north on the Bruce Highway to delve into the stories of the people and places of the division.
FREE camp sites along the northern beaches will come under scrutiny as Townsville City Council grapples with how to fund upgrades to facilities.
Division councillor Margie Ryder has been conducting community consultation about possible upgrades to free camping spots at Toomulla Beach, Rollingstone, Bluewater, Balgal Beach and Saunders Beach.
Cr Ryder said the issue of facility upgrades was becoming more pressing as time went on.
“We have to look at are we going to make it RV friendly, are we going to make it better for camping,” she said.
“Sites haven’t got showers for example.
“The RVs are not a problem, because they’re going to come regardless because they have the facilities.
“It’s really about what needs to be done and who’s going to pay for it.”
Cr Ryder said problems with offleash dogs and illegal fires plagued free camping areas.
“We need to figure out if we can police these places better,” she said.
Cr Ryder said people using the camp site bring more money, but it was also important not to undermine the existing caravan parks.
“It needs to be a hot topic to get resolved,” she said.
“We can keep putting our heads in the sand or we can address it.”
Mount Low resident Nichole Johansen said on one long weekend this year the Rollingstone free camping site was busiest.
“They definitely need better maintenance on the long weekends,” she said.
“A cleaner came in on Friday to clean the toilet block and didn’t come again until Monday.
“With the amount of people that were there, it definitely needed cleaning more often.”
Ms Johansen said having better amenities at the site would be great.
“There’s just cold water there, it’s an outdoors shower so we don’t ever use it, we take a little bucket,” she said.
Townsville Enterprise tourism and events manager Bridget Woods said the kinds of issues that Townsville faced with free camping sites were similar to those grappled with all over Australia. “It’s a challenge,” she said. “We absolutely support our existing commercial operators but we do need to look at these camping sites and see what needs to change.”
Ms Woods said TEL would continue to have conversations with the council and the community on the issue.
“We need to recognise the strategy for every town is different and the need for every stakeholder to be considered.”
TOMORROW: Division 2, including the suburbs of Bushland Beach, Mount Low, Deeragun and Burdell.