• Poll ends in 50/50 split
• Police powerless under Council law
• Alternatives to be investigated

Opinions are divided on what to do with illegal campers following The Newsport’s readers’ poll run last week.

The poll asked the question “What do you think of illegal campers?” following The Newsport’s story on the issue last week (Wednesday, July 13, 2011) which highlighted a record number of illegal campers found within Port Douglas during the July school holidays.

On Monday, 60 readers believed the campers who were camping overnight at public parks and reserves should be driven out of town or directed towards a paid accommodation site, while 58 readers believed the campers should be left alone.

Comments on the poll also suggested that an additional facility is required, whether it is on government-owned land with ablution facilities provided, or a public rest stop similar to those found on major highways around the country.

Division 10 Cairns Regional Councillor, Julia Leu, said there needed to be a more permanent solution to the problem, which has been ongoing for a number of years.

“This issue has been talked about in the past, but it obviously needs to be addressed again as we have been getting approached by the public to do something about it,” she said.

“Certainly we have lost a number of caravan parks on the Queensland coast in recent years and this has not helped the situation – it affects the area right up to Cow Bay.

“We do need to do something about the situation and we need to explore alternatives, whether that includes getting legal involvement or not.”

However, with the Queensland Police Service unable to charge illegal campers or move them on due to the issue coming under council by-law, it appears that CRC by-laws are officially not enforced.

Port Douglas Police Officer-in-Charge Sergeant Damien Meadows and Cr Leu both concede that the relevant by-laws on illegal camping have not been updated since Douglas Shire Council amalgamated with Cairns City Council to become Cairns Regional Council in 2008.

“We are in the final stages of amalgamating those local laws and they should be completed shortly,” Cr Leu said.

“It is a fairly extensive job whenever there are new or amended by-laws, but I do intend to have a meeting with the relevant staff shortly – we need to sit down and come up with some solutions.”

Cr Leu also pointed to examples in the Tablelands area, which had dealt well with providing rest stops.

“The Mount Molloy rest stop is lovely and works well,” she said.

“Perhaps we could explore the possibility of an informal overflow/rest stop near the information station on the highway at Craiglie for the peak periods.

“But, unfortunately it’s not as simple as taking $5 a night from campers, as it also costs money to build the toilet blocks and employ people to collect site fees and clean the facilities.”