I have just learnt that Middle Creek camping reserve in Mt Buangor State Forest now has a fee of $34 to camp, think this is per night, groups over 6 persons must pay more.
This has been one of our favourite places to camp and we are so disappointed that this beautiful part of Australia is now no longer obtainable for us to cherish and enjoy. What a terrible shame.
KFT said
07:38 PM Sep 19, 2014
For those of us who have no idea where you are talking about
please amend the title to show the state this place is in.
even so it is not right that primitive(I assume) camping areas are attracting fees more like a full service cp with bells and whistles.
frank
Daryl620 said
07:50 PM Sep 19, 2014
Who actually owns our state parks, we pay for upkeep though taxes, now a high fee to camp.....
Hey EVERY STATE park in Victoria now attracts a Camping Fee.. $34 seem to be the minimum that is being charged...
Vic Government thought they would be smart and Put a fee on camping.. no daily fee's just camping fee's.. because they need to raise revenue because of a cut to the Park's Budget....
EVERY Vic household Pays an Annual once of Yearly fee of about $100 or so PER household...
So take a guess at how many Millions they collect..
Juergen
2foot6 said
08:07 PM Sep 19, 2014
We have an election coming up soon,wonder what the opposition might do to fix this problem......increase the fees?
aussie_paul said
08:47 PM Sep 19, 2014
Daryl620 wrote:
Who actually owns our state parks, we pay for upkeep though taxes, now a high fee to camp.....
And an extra $1.90 per night during school holidays.
Aussie Paul.
LetsRetreat said
09:07 PM Sep 19, 2014
Sorry I neglected to say before, Middle creek camping area or Mt. Cole as it is fondly known by many is in Victoria about 15k west of Beaufort. This camping area has been enjoyed by campers and trevellers for many years. There are many bush walks, beautiful bird life and wildlife and in general would have to be one of our most favorite places,alas no more.
Fastcoach said
09:23 PM Sep 19, 2014
When the current state government decided to either introduce fees to previously free parks or increase fees to parks which were already charging, they knew full well that a great number of regular users would stop frequenting those parks.
The only obvious reason for doing what they did was to justify a possible sell off to the private sector. There are already many examples of parks around the country that have private enterprise putting up all sorts of up market eco tents etc on land that used to be for ALL Victorians. The latest disgrace is down on the Peninsula where the Point Nepean park is to be largely turned over for a hotel/spa and restaurant.
The nonsense that we were all fed at the time by the government was that they were going to "enhance the experience" of camping in our great National Parks and this would require a large injection in funds. As a result of the increases, we have found a huge backlash from campers and our experience is that whenever we have gone for a look just to see how it's working for them, we have found virtually nobody staying.
Thankfully, we have found any number of brilliant free camps many with far better facilities than most State Parks and we'll continue to boycott places that really would prefer we went elsewhere.
LetsRetreat said
09:37 PM Sep 19, 2014
Yes that is correct, we will boycott and not camp there anymore and there are many other free camps to stay at, but this one for us, and many others I know was one of our favourite places. I heard from friends who visited there yesterday that it looks like no one has camped there for quite some time.
bill12 said
06:05 AM Sep 20, 2014
As an interstate travellor , I will just go somewhere else. Pity, cos I like some places in Vic. Bill
Bas + Eve said
08:24 PM Sep 20, 2014
Seems like the Govts hit those with the least, the hardest!
marinepics said
08:22 AM Sep 25, 2014
We really need to keep our local MP's letterbox filled to overflowing with complaints.
I wrote to the victorian minister responsible for this portfolio, but recieved the standard buck-passing response.
It's said that one letter represents a thousand or so of the public who don't have the time to write.
It's easy to do with the internet, these days, so why don't we all take the iniative, and do it....I know the process is already well and truly underway, and is now probably not reversible, but I think it's still worth expressing our anger.
I'll try to get the internet address, and the minister's name, and post it for those who wish to use it....
LetsRetreat said
05:00 PM Sep 25, 2014
I have written a letter to the Victorian Minister for Tourism stating my concern and as yet have received no reply. I have also penned a letter to the Editor to the local paper in Ballarat, this letter appeared in yesterdays (September 24th 2014) edition of the Courier, I also went online and expressed my concerns with Parks Victoria....... they answered me quoting the price and asked if I wanted to book a site!!! my return letter stated clearly why I would not be booking a site.
Yes I agree, one small voice may not do a lot but we should not be deterred by that and try to do something about this situation.
We have been lucky with our choice of beautiful camping spots throughout Australia, but what will be left for our children and grandchildren?
please amend the title to show the state this place is in.
even so it is not right that primitive(I assume) camping areas are attracting fees more like a full service cp with bells and whistles.
frank
Who actually owns our state parks, we pay for upkeep though taxes, now a high fee to camp.....
http://www.parkstay.vic.gov.au/mount-buangor-state-park
Vic Government thought they would be smart and Put a fee on camping.. no daily fee's just camping fee's.. because they need to raise revenue because of a cut to the Park's Budget....
EVERY Vic household Pays an Annual once of Yearly fee of about $100 or so PER household...
So take a guess at how many Millions they collect..
Juergen
We have an election coming up soon,wonder what the opposition might do to fix this problem......increase the fees?
And an extra $1.90 per night during school holidays.
Aussie Paul.
Sorry I neglected to say before, Middle creek camping area or Mt. Cole as it is fondly known by many is in Victoria about 15k west of Beaufort. This camping area has been enjoyed by campers and trevellers for many years. There are many bush walks, beautiful bird life and wildlife and in general would have to be one of our most favorite places,alas no more.
The only obvious reason for doing what they did was to justify a possible sell off to the private sector. There are already many examples of parks around the country that have private enterprise putting up all sorts of up market eco tents etc on land that used to be for ALL Victorians. The latest disgrace is down on the Peninsula where the Point Nepean park is to be largely turned over for a hotel/spa and restaurant.
The nonsense that we were all fed at the time by the government was that they were going to "enhance the experience" of camping in our great National Parks and this would require a large injection in funds. As a result of the increases, we have found a huge backlash from campers and our experience is that whenever we have gone for a look just to see how it's working for them, we have found virtually nobody staying.
Thankfully, we have found any number of brilliant free camps many with far better facilities than most State Parks and we'll continue to boycott places that really would prefer we went elsewhere.
Yes that is correct, we will boycott and not camp there anymore and there are many other free camps to stay at, but this one for us, and many others I know was one of our favourite places. I heard from friends who visited there yesterday that it looks like no one has camped there for quite some time.
We really need to keep our local MP's letterbox filled to overflowing with complaints.
I wrote to the victorian minister responsible for this portfolio, but recieved the standard buck-passing response.
It's said that one letter represents a thousand or so of the public who don't have the time to write.
It's easy to do with the internet, these days, so why don't we all take the iniative, and do it....I know the process is already well and truly underway, and is now probably not reversible, but I think it's still worth expressing our anger.
I'll try to get the internet address, and the minister's name, and post it for those who wish to use it....
I have written a letter to the Victorian Minister for Tourism stating my concern and as yet have received no reply. I have also penned a letter to the Editor to the local paper in Ballarat, this letter appeared in yesterdays (September 24th 2014) edition of the Courier, I also went online and expressed my concerns with Parks Victoria....... they answered me quoting the price and asked if I wanted to book a site!!! my return letter stated clearly why I would not be booking a site.
Yes I agree, one small voice may not do a lot but we should not be deterred by that and try to do something about this situation.
We have been lucky with our choice of beautiful camping spots throughout Australia, but what will be left for our children and grandchildren?