SIR, – In regard to a story in The Weekly Advertiser 4-11-20 concerning changes to laws to allow people to access more Crown land river frontage for camping and so on.
There is probably more to that law that I would not understand but it is my opinion that farmers would not be the only ones affected by such changes. I have been lucky to experience open camping in many beautiful spots around the country but have noticed how prevalent it has become for so many, campervans in particular, to be territorial with their selection of camp site as to be as close to the water’s edge as possible.
The ordinary sightseer is deprived the chance to freely stroll or take in the view when they feel – as I do – that one is impinging on their space. Fair enough that they pay big money for picture windows in those big rigs but when you find that the swimming hole is overlooked by an audience or an evening stroll along the foreshore encroaches on their dinnertime, the appeal diminishes.
I have also been fortunate to have spent a number of years operating a caravan park on a beautiful stretch of river in Tasmania but do you think I could get campers to play fair? No! They would want to plonk their tents or campers so close to the river that fishing people had to move on with no view left for those in the designated spots on higher ground.
