1700 sign up to support campers

Alex de Vos
About 1700 people have signed a petition opposing Great Ocean Road Coast Committee’s plan to redevelop Torquay’s public caravan park, according to a campers’ lobby group.
Anger over the plan has also reached the floor of State Government’s Upper House where Member for Western Victoria David Koch has vowed to fight the project.
Torquay Concerned Campers Committee’s Russell Harper said people who signed the petition opposed GORCC kicking 28 families off their long-held sites in the caravan park.
Mr Harper said he was “furious” about GORCC’s “lack of transparency”.
“They seem to be changing their mind and we want to get everything out on the table,” Mr Harper said.
He accused the committee of misleading the campers on fee increases.
“They’ve also put the fees up by 18 per cent but, from our discussion, that’s only half of what they’re going to do,” Mr Harper said.
Mr Harper said the concerned campers group would present its petition to state Environment and Climate Change Minister Gavin Jennings this week.
“We want plans to kick families off their sites stopped.”
Mr Harper said he had also “lost faith” in GORCC’s ability to manage the coastline between Torquay and Lorne.
“They’re supposed to be experts – they get $5 million a year from the caravan parks and they’ve spent less than five per cent on upgrading them,” he said.
“It should be an ongoing process. They are not maintaining the fundamental things that provide their income.”
Mr Koch believed that a committee plan to relocate 21 campsites would “change the unique character” of the caravan park.
“The redevelopment will require extensive work including soil movement and tree removal,” he said.
“In an endeavour to lift financial returns from this established and supported caravan park, GORCC is plundering this pristine coastal landscape.”
Great Ocean Road Coast Committee executive officer David Clarke said his organisation was aware of the campers’ grievances.
“We’ve worked well with campers and a lot has been achieved,” Mr Clarke said.
“We’re keen to improve the caravan park and we’re aware that the campers have still got some concerns.”