DEVELOPERS have been blocked from getting their hands on a popular waterfront caravan park on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Queensland Heritage Council has announced that the privately-run Tripcony Hibiscus Caravan Park at Caloundra will be heritage listed, effectively securing the park's future as a low-cost holiday destination.

It is the third caravan park in the area to be added to the register, the others being Cotton Tree and Noosa Rivers ... both operated by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

Queensland Heritage Council chairman David Eades said the listings had been made with the blessing of the owners and the Sunshine Coast Regional Council. "They stem the loss of caravan sites on the coast – and retain that immediate access to the water for holidaymakers," he explained.

"Heritage listing won't stop facilities from being upgraded. It will however stop future changes of use, assuring the continuation of these places as caravan parks for many years to come."

Mr Eades believed seaside holidays were in the blood of Australians. "They are quintessential Queensland experiences. Some 650,000 Queenslanders stay in caravan parks around the state every year,"  he explained.

The three caravan parks not only demonstrated the evolution of tourist accommodation but remained true examples of waterfront caravan parks that blended nature with accessible, affordable amenities.

"The advertising of 1910 got it right when it described a two-week camp at Cotton Tree as 'Nature’s pick me up'," he said. "That's what many, many holidaymakers demonstrate today ... they book their site a year in advance and come back again and again for their annual recharge."

Rapid development on the Sunshine Coast in the past 25 years has created a land squeeze for other prime waterfront accommodation, with at least eight caravan parks and some council camping reserves closing.

Mr Eades said heritage listing would not impact on the day-to-day running of the caravan parks. "It will be business as usual," he promised.

Tripcony Hibiscus Caravan Park owner Thomas Booker applauded the heritage decision.

 "This, on top of confirmation of a 30-year lease, gives us confidence in the future," he said. "We can move ahead with our planned redevelopment, bringing facilities up to the 21st century."

Heritage reports show that the three waterfront sites drew holidaymakers to their shores well before caravanning became fashionable in the 1950s.

Salvation Army advertising suggests Cotton Tree was a popular campsite as early as the 1880s.

The Tripcony Hibiscus site has attracted campers since around 1912.

Noosa River has been a camping destination since the 1920s.

All three quickly became prime destinations for caravan enthusiasts with the upsurge in road holidays and private car – and caravan – ownership from the 1950s.

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