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Crescent Head surfer Brian Vaughan is looking forward to finally being able to park in front of his favourite surf break these holidays.
Mr Vaughan said he had noticed Kempsey Shire Council rangers already doing the rounds of the point to check for illegal campers.
“The rangers have been coming down and looking out for cars parked for longer than four hours – they’ve been having a good go,” he said. “It’s probably too early to tell whether they’ll have it under control. We’ll see how it goes when the holidays start.”
Mr Vaughan said he hoped backpackers would spread the word about the crack down on illegal camping in the area.
“Hopefully tourists coming from Byron or Sydney will find out that they can no longer camp for free in Creso – they might give us a miss altogether!”
Kempsey Shire Council’s manager of regulatory compliance Ken Ward said rangers would be maintaining a presence in the town over the summer break to ensure campers are staying in the designated areas.
“We welcome all visitors to our area,” Mr Ward said. “We just ask that if you are coming here for a holiday that you comply with the rules and stay in either motels, rental accommodation, camp within the camping grounds at the caravan park or the national parks.”
“By doing the right thing you are ensuring that everyone has an enjoyable stay.”
Parking in the Point car park is limited to four hours, while the children’s playground car park has remained untimed. However, both car parks have been made “no stopping” zones between 11pm and 5am to prevent the practice of holidaymakers sleeping in their vehicles.
There is also an overflow car park in Willow Street for guests of the Crescent Head Holiday Park who have more than one vehicle, with parking permits being issued by holiday park staff.
Any residents or visitors who have questions on where to camp safely and without penalty should visit the tourism website Macleay Valley Coast.
