Caravan parks closed amid regional travel ban

The WA government announced yesterday all travel between regions will be banned as of Wednesday April 1.

Anyone caught breaching the ban faces fines of up to $50,000.

Travel exemptions include, but are not limited to, essential services, work-related travel, and medical and compassionate reasons.

People should stay home, not travel, and always observe social distancing requirements.

People already in campgrounds must make arrangements to return home as soon as possible.

The only camping exemptions are for people with no fixed address, backpackers or travellers from overseas or interstate who are unable to return home or cannot find alternative accommodation.

If you are from interstate, you are encouraged to return home or to find alternative accommodation.

For camp hosts remaining consider that this is an evolving situation and travel restrictions may be further tightened. You should assess your ability to be self-sustaining for an extended period of time.

As of March 27 online campground bookings for Parks and Wildlife Service sites are suspended until further notice.

Existing campsite bookings with a start date up to and including May 31 are being cancelled with full refunds.

People with bookings will be contacted directly to arrange refunds. People are encouraged to reschedule their holiday once camping conditions return to normal.

National parks remain open at this time, aside from some sites within parks that would normally receive high numbers of visitors. However, visitors must heed the new intraregional travel restrictions.

City of Busselton Mayor Grant Henley said caravan parks in the region were closed including the Busselton Jetty Tourist Park, which is owned by the City.

“If people are legitimately stranded we would need consider situations on a case by case basis and be practical and compassionate while protecting our residents,” he said.

RAC Tourism also closed all caravan parks and resorts, effective immediately.

RAC Executive General Manager Tourism Tony Pickworth said RAC was committed to the health and safety of guests and staff.

“Like all tourism operators across WA and Australia, we’ve been closely monitoring and responding to the latest health advice surrounding COVID-19,” Mr Pickworth said.

“The latest direction from the government and health authorities is that all non-essential travel should not proceed, and so we have made the decision to temporarily close our nine destinations to all people other than those in extenuating circumstances.

“We regret any inconvenience and disruption this will cause, but our absolute highest priority is the health and safety of our guests, our people, our members, and the wider Western Australian community.”

RAC will not be accepting new bookings for the month of April and will be providing flexible options for all guests with existing bookings to amend or cancel their stays, including offering full refunds.