Echuca not RV friendly

ken thomas · Guru

Echuca not RV friendly

ken thomas · Guru

If you want to pay $20 to use the dump point you have too much money

I will not use the park also and there are no other dump points with 30klm of echuca

Next time you are going thru Echuca see how many sites there are for you to stop with your van?/ about 3 signed sites, thats how friendly Echuca is

Ken

-- Edited by ken thomas on Saturday 5th of January 2013 10:26:42 PM

gordon_adl · Senior Member

There are accessible facilities there. You just have to open your wallet to use them. It's completely acceptable for me to pay for services I use. I also know plenty of other people with caravans that are willing to pay for services they use. I didn't realise you spoke for all caravans users.

aussietraveller · Guru

confuse Seems very unusual for a council to be charging for the use of a dump point especially $20 when many other Councils are recognising the real value of tourists to their town and installing free dump points and fresh water, I think it might just be that Council has leased the park to a greedy operator.

I dont know how Gordon got to think that Ken thought he was speaking for other Caravanner's and although Gordon may have heaps of money many of us dont but I also am happy to pay for services provided just not at the rate of $20 for the use of a Dump point maybe around $5.00 more appropriate wink

Happywanderer · The Master

It is not acceptable to be paying 20.00 to use a dump point. It is downright greedy.
Ken is not speaking for all RVers but as a resident of Echuca. This town has always had an unfriendly trend towards RVers, although states itself as a tourist town.
As long as you have plenty of money to spend which a lot of us don't, they are happy to see you.
If little towns such as Tongala and Girgarre which are not too far up the road, can supply dump points and showers in the case as Girgarre, why can't Echuca.
I am sure, could be wrong, they are all run by the same shire council.

brickies · Guru

If this Dump point is in a caravan park and I was paying to stop at that park I would not want people coming into the caravan park at leisure to dump and not having to pay anything

Happywanderer · The Master

Thats why it shouldn't be INSIDE the caravan park. There is a open park next door, it could be in that or down at the info centre which they upgraded last year but didn't bother to put in a dump point.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Thankfully, I have no need for dump points as I usually "free" camp and one of my selection criterion is "toilet".

I believe the majority of van parks, with their own dump point, charge a fee for 'non-residents' to make use of the facility. I think that is fair as there is a cost to install the facility - although I also understand CMCA have contributed a considerable amount around Australia installing dump points in conjunction with shires/van parks.

However, I do feel $20 to dump a porta-loo cassette is a big rich - perhaps if a motorhome dumps its 100+ litre black water then $20 may be justified. I know I would not be willing to pay $20.

This would be further justification for my first rule - stay away from tourist towns/attractions.

Cheers - John

Duh · Guru

I know of at least one country cp in WA that have theirs in the council caravan park, not sure if they charged outsiders, but reason given was if it was in an uncontrolled environment local businesses would dump chemicals in it instead of other disposal methods.

I saw a dump point in a town clearly marke RV Dump Point only with a caravan and motorhome sign which was alongside a park with suitable pull in, and saw one of the locals dressed in overalls and with a business sign on the side of his ute emptying chemicals in 4 gal drums into the dump point. This was early in the morning at first light. An RV owner parked nearby took his rego details and reported him to the local council.

biggles · Senior Member

.. totally agree with you Ken ..

jimricho · Guru

Regardless of who owns a caravan park I believe it's perfectly acceptable to charge "outsiders" to use the park's facilities including a dump point.

Is there a public (free) dump point in the Echuca area?

Dougwe · Chief one feather

I agree with Ken, $20 is far too much to charge for a porta loo and I didn't read his comment being "Spoke for all caravan users" in any way. I do however agree a small fee is appropriate for non paying CV Park users. I love Echuca and will continue to go any time I get the chance. I think all Council's/Shire's should be RV Friendly to help bring people into the area.

We all have said waste and I just hope people that choose to be in the bush instead do the right thing with their waste.

jimricho · Guru

Digressing slightly, I stayed at that park in Echuca a few years ago and I was "less than impressed". It's definitely not on my "go there again" list.

Happywanderer · The Master

jimricho wrote:
Regardless of who owns a caravan park I believe it's perfectly acceptable to charge "outsiders" to use the park's facilities including a dump point.

Is there a public (free) dump point in the Echuca area?

No there isn't jimricho. Thats why everyone is complaining.

PS. That particular caravan park IS owned by the shire council.

dazren · Guru

Completely agree with you Ken, $20 is robbery, but Echuca is always ''up itself'' during busy periods, but they like the rv's more when it quite and they need to fill sites, I go to Echuca and Barmah forest a lot, and have spent a small fortune in Echuca, It is not the poorest council around, and they could well afford to put in a free or Low cost Dump point, and IF they were RV friendly they would !

dazren · Guru

smile gordon adl wrote [ in part ] -- I didn't realise you spoke for all caravans users.--

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

confuse confuse Where did that comment come from ?? I did not assume that was Ken's Intention, ?? Same as your comment I also do not Assume that you speak for All RV's either disbelief

As for $20 just to dump ?? forget it, [ and I can afford it ] But I have a Shovel, I am surrounded by Bush, and I can dig a Hole Job Done ?

and the next park i stay at in Echuca, will not be the one that charges outsiders $20 for a dump point ?? furious

valnrob · Guru

I think you will find a lot of vanners will agree with Ken that twenty bucks is a bit steep to charge. It's not really a matter of whether you have a lot of money or just a few bucks, IT'S GREEDY to charge that much for a basic need.

brickies · Guru

But if you stay in the caravan park you would not have to pay $20 for the dump site , This dump site thing why not dump somewhere where there is a dump site if you know the place you are going to doesn't have access to a dump point it called planing

dazren · Guru

Brickies, do you always stay at caravan parks ???? and if not ? and you needed a dump point, do you think $20 is a fair price to pay ??

jimricho · Guru

Happywanderer wrote:
jimricho wrote:
Regardless of who owns a caravan park I believe it's perfectly acceptable to charge "outsiders" to use the park's facilities including a dump point.

Is there a public (free) dump point in the Echuca area?
No there isn't jimricho. Thats why everyone is complaining.
PS. That particular caravan park IS owned by the shire council.

If that is the only public dump point in the Echuca area I agree that $20 is excessive. I would think a couple of dollars would not be unreasonable.

Maybe the various RV associations should be pressuring the council to provide a separate publicly accessible dump point, especially in view of the extent of camping that occurs along the Murray.

I've been told by more than one CP owner that they've had problems with free campers sneaking in to use their various facilities (including dump points that they've installed at their own expense for use by their customers) without paying. One of the reasons most of them now have locks on the amenities and boom gates.

sandsmere · Guru

Agree with you Ken . Just a money grabbing exercise .

A town the size of Echuca should have a public dump point . Specially when they reckon they are a tourist area .

We couldn't find much room to park a hitched up rig there either .

beiffe · Guru

There are list of dump points around Australia and it is easy to find them but you just have to plan your travels to get to the sites when needed.
All we have to do is to go to the towns that are friendly and forget the others.
There is a lot to see in Australia so I prefer to keep away from the unfriendly towns and give my money to the friendly ones.
That is what I call planning. I visit where I consider my money is welcome and if I can help out with spending and staying in their area then good. I also do voluntary work and regularly go to places I have enjoyed and do work when I can.
A typical example was after the floods in Victoria, Blazeaid tried to setup a site in Echuca but the local groups did not want foreigners taking the money from them. They considered we would take their flood relief money so they kept the lot and no work was done. At Charlton which is a very Rv friendly town we had no trouble getting traveling volunteers and we did a lot of work and had many great times. When the call went out for people to go to QLD many people refused to go to QLD as we had the feeling that they don't want us as tourist but wanted us as free workers. Therefore the QLD sites did not get the response that Victoria did.
Any town who does not want the RV tourist they should put a sign up to state that. I know many people when they see the NO CAMPING sign for the shire etc they go straight through.
We are all different and that's what makes the world go round. Some like the Parks and some don't. If I had to pay to dump (been in the situation a few times) I just move on and find somewhere else.
If you have a bad experience in a town always go to the local info bay and tell them and that you have decided to go somewhere else and you will be giving you impression of their town on the RV forums and the travelers sites such as Badgers web site.
I have bought a little amount of fuel and told them I needed that amount to get to a friendly town as I was out and did not have enough to get out of their town.
Regards
Brian

brickies · Guru

Thank you Brian that the point I was making , The point was made the nearest dump point 30 klm away so why not use it before you get to Echuca . I have seen first hand people coming into caravan park to use there dump point and think it there right to do so , I think the reason for the $20 so they wont have people desturbing the people who have paid to stay in the park and they hope nobody id silly enough to pay the $20

Duh · Guru

This is for Tasmania, but interesting reading, although item 7 (CMCA Definition Of RV Friendly Towns) applies Australia Wide for those towns wishing to meet that criteria, usually has CMCA RV Friendly Town signs on town approaches etc, see;

http://www.lgat.tas.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Recreational_Vehicle_Guidleines.pdf

(in answer to Beth's query on what generally constitutes an RV Friendly town)

-- Edited by Duh on Sunday 6th of January 2013 07:36:50 PM

Santa · Guru

brickies wrote:
Thank you Brian that the point I was making , The point was made the nearest dump point 30 klm away so why not use it before you get to Echuca . I have seen first hand people coming into caravan park to use there dump point and think it there right to do so , I think the reason for the $20 so they wont have people desturbing the people who have paid to stay in the park and they hope nobody id silly enough to pay the $20

I suspect you've hit the nail on the head Brickies, a little planning ahead goes a long way in avoiding frustrations.

I certainly wouldn't write a town off simply because it doesn't have a dump point, cutting off your nose to spite your face.

We travel through the Riverina area quite frequently and have never experienced problems.

Beth54 · Guru

I suspect what they call 'RV friendly' means in these type of towns is 'tourist' dollars, not nomads-on-a-budget-dollars. When we visited there in October, there were lots more 'regular' tourists than seniors roaming around the Wharf area.

I can't remember the name of the CP we stayed in..from memory it was across the river (S) and down a road to the left. I think it backed onto the river. confuse ??

I wouldn't pay $20, on principle. If I really had to pay, it'd be no more than $5.

The Otways is sadly lacking in dump points too. We were camped at Johanna Beach for 5 days so even though we'd 'dumped' before arriving, they needed emptying again. We ended up having to dump in a public toilet while driving through the hinterland. Watching all the time that we wouldn't get abused.

Santa · Guru

Beth54 wrote:
I suspect what they call 'RV friendly' means in these type of towns is 'tourist' dollars, not nomads-on-a-budget-dollars. When we visited there in October, there were lots more 'regular' tourists than seniors roaming around the Wharf area.

I don't see why we as seniors should expect special treatment Beth, we are all visitors to the area.

In fact I consider it a bonus to be in the company of younger people, not surrounded by a bunch of old farts (like myself) with one foot in the grave. wink

Beth54 · Guru

Santa wrote:
Beth54 wrote:
I suspect what they call 'RV friendly' means in these type of towns is 'tourist' dollars, not nomads-on-a-budget-dollars. When we visited there in October, there were lots more 'regular' tourists than seniors roaming around the Wharf area.
I don't see why we as seniors should expect special treatment Beth, we are all visitors to the area.
In fact I consider it a bonus to be in the company of younger people, not surrounded by a bunch of old farts (like myself) with one foot in the grave.

Did I say I want special treatment? I think not. And I like to be around younger people too, they're a lot of fun! In fact, as a not-yet-60 'senior' I don't consider myself an old fart by any means.

To clarify, my observation is that younger people and/or overseas visitors tend to spend more in these touristy places, therefore the powers that be will cater more towards them.

jimricho · Guru

Who manages and operates this particular park? Does the council manage the park themselves as a business unit or is it leased to private managers/operators?

rockylizard · Guru

Beth54 wrote:
~~~~~~~~~~~~ To clarify, my observation is that younger people and/or overseas visitors tend to spend more in these touristy places, therefore the powers that be will cater more towards them.

Gday...

Having lived in Victoria for many years (far too many if you ask me ), and been subjected to the advertising that the "Town of Echuca" puts through regional and Melbourne metropolitian TV stations - especially leading up to "holiday periods" such as Easter, Xmas and school holidays - I can verify the observation of Beth.

The advertising is aimed at the young family 'visitor' - showing the tourist attractions (paddle boats, river, van parks with playgrounds/pools, the river with fishing and boating. Also given the close proximity of Melbourne to Echuca (in fact everywhere is in close proximity in Victoria ) there will always be many who spend weekends with a 'short drive' so easy to do. Quick 'tourist $$' for the region.

And to return to topic - to charge $20 to dump a porta-potti cassette is outrageous - I think a comment previously that it is quite probably a ploy by the van park managers to simply discourage people from entering the van park to only use the dump point ... and if they still do, then it is good to pocket their money.

Either way - there are still many places that have dump points and welcome the 'mobile bank accounts' so simply plan and visit those that you can use.

Cheers - John