The Huon Valley Council has completed its review of RV sites on Council owned or controlled land in Franklin, Shipwrights Point and Geeveston.
The Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA) is now operating the site at Geeveston, with the Palais Management Committee operating the Franklin site.
However, Council has not been able to obtain an operator for Shipwrights Point that can meet the requirements for operating the site. As a result, the Council has made the decision to close the site to camping.
“This has not been an easy decision for the Council, particularly given the strong community support and desire for continuing RV camping at Shipwrights Point which was expressed through community engagement undertaken in 2018,” Huon Valley Council Mayor Bec Enders said.
“Unfortunately, it has become clear that operation of the RV site is not currently viable. This is due to limited income able to be made from the site and the ongoing costs required to meet State Government requirements.”
Council decided against calling for further expressions of interest for operation of the Shipwrights Point RV site for a number of reasons.
“For Council, our door is always open for community groups to approach Council to express their interest in operating an RV site from Shipwrights Point.”
“The costs of operating the RV site – including lease rental, rates, day-to-day management, maintenance and insurance – are generally too large for community groups to cover,” Cr Enders said. “The trust deed requires the site to be operated by a community organisation only, and not by a commercial operator.
“Demand for RV accommodation has also dropped off in the Valley following the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. For Council, our door is always open for community groups to approach Council to express their interest in operating an RV site from Shipwrights Point. Should this happen, then Council would consider this interest and potentially start an expression of interest process to ensure that a fair and open process would be undertaken to secure an operator. This would need to be a decision of Council.
“We now have three approved RV sites within short distance of the site, located at Franklin, the Geeveston RSL, and Heritage Park, which – in addition to the many Parks and Wildlife sites and private caravan and campground sites located around the Huon Valley – provide a good amount of RV camping opportunities for the people who are travelling down to stay in our beautiful region.”
Image by Tourism Tasmania and Rob Burnett