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your say
A REVIEW of council-managed cheap or free overnight camping facilities
for caravanners and other RVers in Tasmania believes local authorities
should operate on a level playing field.
"Providing free or low-cost camping services by a council may be a useful
short-term solution to some issues facing councils, for instance to
prevent RVs parking and camping on the side of the road and to attract
visitors to the area," it said.
"However, these measures discourage private caravan parks from investing
and operating in the area and reduce the benefits from a competitive
market."
The review found that councils must abide by the principles of
"competitive neutrality" and should apply a full cost attribution approach
when operating overnight camping facilities.
"Each council-owned service in Tasmania is highly likely to be competing
with a privately-owned caravan park, either within its own municipality or
in surrounding municipalities, and needs to price its services to reflect
costs," it said.
Local Government representatives were involved in the review and have now
released a draft paper calling for public feedback.
Earlier this year, the Tasmanian Economic Regulator investigated four
complaints by private caravan park operators about councils providing free
or low-priced overnight recreational vehicle camping services.
In each case, the Regulator found in favour of the caravan park owners,
because councils were offering the service for free or not charging the
full cost, thus breaching their national competition policy and
competitive neutrality obligations.
After releasing its decision, Office of the Economic Regulator in Tasmania
denied it wanted to outlaw free camping in the Apple Isle.
Chairman of the Economic Regulator Glenn Appleyard told Caravanning
News there was no recommendation to ban free camping, adding: "It
can’t do this anyway."
Releasing the draft statewide directions paper, prepared at the request of
the local government sector, Local Government Minister Bryan Green said
tourism was a critical part of the Tasmanian economy.
"I am committed to helping local councils strike the right balance between
attracting visitors and supporting local investment in private tourist
facilities," he said.
Mr Green said the paper was based on submissions and discussions with key
stakeholders, including the Caravan Industry Association of Tasmania, the
Caravan and Motorhome Club of Australia, the Tourism Industry Council of
Tasmania and the Tasmanian Economic Regulator.
“Local Government representatives have been involved in the review and now
the release of this draft paper is providing an important opportunity for
all councils to respond to its findings," he added.
A copy of the draft paper is available at www.dpac.tas.gov.au
Submissions close on December 5, 2011.
