ILLEGAL campers are causing headaches for residents at popular holiday spots around the Macleay Valley leaving unwanted rubbish and taking up short term parking spaces.
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ILLEGAL campers are causing headaches for residents at popular holiday spots around the Macleay Valley leaving unwanted rubbish and taking up short term parking spaces.
Crescent Head resident John Westaway said the problem of illegal campers near Willow St cropped up every near year, and this year it was as bad as it had ever been.
He contacted The Argus last week.
“Usually it is just a bit of noise and hassle," Mr Westaway said.
"This year they were quiet but they left a huge pile of rubbish and broken glass to clean up.
“They aren’t backpackers, these are locals.
"Alot of the cars had P-plates.
"They use the park near the creek for a camp area to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
“It is frustrating because even though they shouldn’t be there, if they just cleaned up after themselves it wouldn’t be so bad, but the amount of rubbish and broken glass around this year was just too much.”
Mr Westaway said he called the police on New Year’s Eve but they were unable to move the people on.
“They were good about it and came and spoke to the people but they really couldn’t do much about it,” he said.
“I called the council but of course they were closed and there was no ranger on duty.
"The ranger really should have been policing this issue.”
People staying overnight at the beachside car park in Crescent Head are also causing congestion by camping overnight, taking up space that would normally be available to day visitors to the popular tourist spot.
The parking congestion is compounded by the caravan parks allowing tourists to take in only one car per site.
Many families have two or more cars, meaning the beach car park is used for overflow parking.
