First member-only park opens

The Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia has officially opened its first no-frills RV park at Ingham in north Queensland.

The first of up to 80 low-cost, member-only parks proposed over the next five years, the 50 site park is only open to CMCA members with self-contained recreational vehicles that meet the requirements of the club’s Self Contained Vehicle (SCV) Policy.

The CMCA says parks established under its controversial new scheme are managed by on-site volunteers and provide access to a secure place to park, potable water and dump points to offload black and grey water.

The CMCA, which boasts around 66,000 members that each pay an annual fee of $44, says the new initiative is “in response to the growing need for basic accommodation for self-contained vehicles that can generate their own energy needs”.

“CMCA RV parks are providing a viable alternative to the RV accommodation dynamic at a time when baby boomers are entering the RV tourism market in ever increasing numbers.” said CMCA chairman Garry Lee.

“We are developing a new style of accommodation to meet the needs of our members who have invested in vehicle technology that makes them the most environmentally friendly self-drive tourists in Australia.”

Lee said the CMCA has leased the Ingham property from the Hinchinbrook Shire Council and spent $60,000 installing a shelter shed, fencing, a dump point, sealed driveway and planting more than 140 trees.

“CMCA aims to establish 80 of these high-quality RV facilities across Australia over the next five years and we are currently engaged with over 50 councils in five states and territories,” he said.

“We are gaining enormous support from local government as we offer low impact, environmentally friendly tourism facilities, mainly in smaller regional locations, that deliver quadruple bottom line benefits for the community, at absolutely no cost to the Council.”