Hey, we left Nimbin Showgrounds this morning! How are you? And where are you headed?

Gday...

I provide the following email responses from NSW RMS regarding the rest areas within NSW.

I have copied this from another travelling forum because I felt that it was not only a fair and informative response from RMS, but provides clear advice on how to interpret the expectations of travellers.

RMS response is dated 9/9/14

Hi Xxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your correspondence to Roads and Maritime Services regarding rest areas.

Please be advised that driver fatigue is one of the three big killers on NSW roads and can be as dangerous as speeding or drink driving. Roads and Maritime Services is committed to providing rest areas along key routes in NSW to allow all motorists to take appropriate breaks and to avoid fatigue. All motorists recognising the signs of fatigue should rest accordingly.

The maximum permissible stay in a rest area is not specified, given that all motorists needs are different, with varying levels of fatigue, at varying times of night and day. Some may need to stop for a few hours until they are ready to continue their journey safely. Please note, rest areas are not designed to be camping grounds or caravan parks. Using rest areas for multiple overnight stays as part of a planned itinerary is not in keeping with their intended purpose and it reduces the availability of spaces for motorists needing a break before continuing on their journey. Those needing camping facilities for an extended stay are encouraged to look for camping areas or caravan parks in towns along the way.

Roads and Maritime is currently working to increase and improve the network of state-wide rest areas, including easy-to-understand signage, vendors to provide coffee and refreshments and improved facilities. We are also working to ensure that heavy vehicle drivers are catered for with designated heavy vehicle rest areas available for them to take obligatory fatigue breaks. In peak periods especially, holiday makers are encouraged to use rest areas that have designated parking for light and recreational vehicles.

Note that individual local councils not Roads and Maritime, monitor and enforce any restriction related to the duration of stay in a road side rest area.

To help to plan your rest stops go to the Roads and Maritime Interactive Rest Area Map at http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/usingroads/restareas/

I hope this has been of assistance.

Kind Regards

Chris
Christine Murray
Regional Government Information Services Officer, Hunter
Government Information Services | Strategy & Engagement

T 02 4924 0204 M 0411 286 673

http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au

Every journey matters

Roads and Maritime Services
Level 1 59 Darby St Newcastle NSW 2300

A further email in this regard

RMS response dated 02/06/16

Hi Xxxxxxxxx

Im just going through my emails and may have missed answering your enquiry. My apologies.

The current Roads and Maritime advice is:-

Roads and Maritime Services supports the NSW Centre for Road Safety campaign to Rest, Revive and Survive and acknowledges that long distance drivers to need to take regular short breaks to avoid fatigue.

To encourage drivers to take regular short breaks, Roads and Maritime has provided rest areas along major transport corridors in NSW. There are 528 rest areas in NSW. Of these, 353 are under the direct control of Roads and Maritime. 

Roads and Maritime has no objection to rest areas being used as picnic areas and has provided BBQ facilities at some locations.

In general, camping in NSW is only permitted in designated public and privately-operated camping grounds.

Unfortunately, some rest areas in NSW are being used as holiday camping grounds, with some visitors setting up camp for consecutive days. This behaviour limits the parking that should be available to, and is required by, other drivers who may need to take a short break.

Roads and Maritime encourages long distance motorists seeking overnight stays or breaks longer than 24 hours to plan their journeys in advance and consider staying at commercial camping ground or venues with the appropriate amenities to meet their needs. At locations where motorists have been observed staying longer than 24 hours in a rest area, Roads and Maritime has placed No Camping signs to remind visitors they are in a designated rest area and not a camping area. This is intended to maximise access to rest areas for all road users.

Individual local councils, rather than Roads and Maritime, monitor and enforce restrictions related to the duration of stay in roadside rest areas.

Roads and Maritime is currently developing an overarching rest stop strategy to ensure a consistent Statewide approach to its rest stops across NSW. Roads and Maritime expects to finalise the development of its Rest Stop Strategy by June 2016. The new strategy will provide the overarching framework for guiding investment decisions around rest stops (including heavy vehicle rest areas) to effectively manage fatigue-related incidents on the NSW road network.

I hope this has been of assistance.

Chris
Christine Murray
Government Information Services Officer, Hunter
Communication and Stakeholder Engagement | Customer, Engagement and Planning

T 02 4924 0204 M 0411 286 673

www.rms.nsw.gov.au

Every journey matters

Roads and Maritime Services
Level 1 59 Darby St Newcastle NSW 2300

Cheers - John

It seems to be a trend in some areas. We are currently travelling in south QLD and were planning on staying overnight at the free camp at the weir in St. George. The entry in Wikicamps mysteriously disappeared bout a week ago and apparently the Information Centre is quite adamant that there is no free camping anywhere near the town and that all tourists are required to stay at one of the town's caravan parks.

Well, no thanks... their loss as far as I'm concerned. We continued on to Mitchell, where they actively encourage camping at their weir. When we rocked up late yesterday afternoon, there must've been 50 caravans scattered along that stretch of water. The area is well maintained and obviously attracts a lot of business for the town.

When will these local Councils learn? I fear a lot of caravan park owners are bleating 'competitive neutrality' (falsely) believing they are being hard done by and losing business. 

Swan Hill in SA is another good example where the local CP owner convinced the Council to put a $10 charge on camping along the river near the ferry. That lasted 5 months, the pub and the nearby takeaway shop almost went broke and after hundreds of formal complaints, the charge was removed. The interesting thing was that the CP's clientele did not increase at all during that 5 month period. The pub and other businesses are once again doing well. This came directly from one of the local townspeople when we were there a couple of months ago.

When we travel we do probably 50:50 free to CP's, but only in those towns where we are made to feel welcome.

Thanks John. That clears it up a bit and makes me feel better if I need to pull and get some sleep.

Thanks rockyfor that formal info it's always good to have official view point.i learnt my lesson long ago with ranger infringement notice . Try to avoid confrontation at this point in life..we all know c.p. Prices vary if need to I pay it if I don't like Coffs I happily move on no upsets . I'm in nimbin $ 10 power clean toilets showers .im feeling happy. Sometimes it irks you to see such good places under-utilised like these great rest areas upgraded .thanks to all the responses so far we seem to share common challengers..hey there jules , billeeeeeeee young fella john following the sun jules going nth.no particular place to go .just need 20+ s sun .vic too cold now.maybe we get to crack a scone up the red road red thinking of dave typo.cya typo again  scone billeeeeeee not cone lol

GerryP wrote:

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It seems to be a trend in some areas. We are currently travelling in south QLD and were planning on staying overnight at the free camp at the weir in St. George. The entry in Wikicamps mysteriously disappeared bout a week ago and apparently the Information Centre is quite adamant that there is no free camping anywhere near the town and that all tourists are required to stay at one of the town's caravan parks

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 That camp spot at St George has been an unauthorised camp spot for a long time. It is yet another example of being wary about camp spots featured in WikiCamps, Camps Australia Wide or any of the other crowd sourced directories. Use these guides by all means but it is up to you to check on the accuracy of these guides. If you follow them without checking then it will be no defence if you get a blister for camping there.