...a coastal dream slips away

I grew up (more years ago now than I really care to remember) like many Aussies of my era with holidays by the beach. These holidays were looked forward to with great anticipation and excitement. Speculation over what we’d do and what (and who) we’d see was always rife, and thinking back on it now fills my mind with happy memories of an uncomplicated time.

These days, just sitting on the sand and watching the waves roll in or the antics of dolphins or seagulls wheeling and chasing bait fish offers a sense of tranquillity that’s hard to  beat. Happy hour, for me at least, would be a little less happy without the warm days, the sound of waves running up the beach and the smell of salt air.

My girls, now grown with families of their own, often tell me that some of their fondest memories growing up were the beachside holidays and the long warm summer days filled with sun, fun and friends. The caravan/holiday park beach holiday was an institution, not just for me and my children’s generations, but for the generations before me, where Aussie kids swam, surfed and fished themselves to exhaustion (much to their parents’ relief).

Rodney Hutchinson

Beachside caravan/holiday parks were, and still are, an institution in Australia where you can access your little piece of paradise with reacquainted friends every year, and continue conversations as if you hadn’t been apart. Those annual trips where Mum and Dad caught up and celebrated with old friends, and the kids did the same, were almost a rite of passage. White zinc cream on the nose, cold drinks, prawn sandwiches, watermelon, ice creams, and camp fires; it was a mix that touched your soul.

Annual beachside holidays are a part of our cultural identity and help make up our ‘Aussieness’. If you’ve travelled overseas and compared beachside camping holidays, you’ll understand just how good we have it here in Australia with spectacular, uncrowded and unspoiled beaches. We also enjoy a wide range of beachside destinations, each with their own specific appeal and character. Some offering the sort of infrastructure needed by young families; some offering the opposite with bush, wildlife and a sense of self-reliance. We really are the ‘lucky country’; we have access to something very special that many people living overseas can only dream of.

Sadly, the dream of Australia’s uncomplicated annual beachside holiday is starting to dry up. Caravan and holiday parks around our beautiful coastline are slowly disappearing and being replaced by permanent dwellings. Australia’s once-proud egalitarian beachside holiday is in sharp decline. Property  development deliberately targets those places that families like to visit and as a consequence, the stock of reasonably-priced family beachside holiday destinations is shrinking rapidly.

Population pressure and the desire to secure a part of the Aussie dream is putting enormous pressure on coastal councils who have their own budget imperatives. One particular outcome of this is that the humble beachside caravan and holiday park days are numbered. Scope to access the prosaic Aussie beachside holiday is being out-manoeuvred by luxury holiday apartments, trendy hotels and cafes, free Wi-Fi, upscale shopping precincts and local councils struggling to meet budget pressures. The income generated by these package holiday behemoths is a bonanza for councils and in many cases an irresistible rates income stream.

The downside is overcrowding, competition for scarce resources and the ultimate loss of the ‘Aussie Family Holiday’. Another important aspect is the loss of character where the very reason for a destination’s popularity and families wanting to visit, is being eroded by ‘improvements’. Without wishing to identify specific locations, I think we can all recall places that we used to visit that have now been ‘enhanced’ beyond recognition (or attraction).

Perhaps I’m being overly nostalgic – perhaps not. Scope to enjoy an uncomplicated beach holiday these days is becoming a lot more complicated than it used to be. Pressure and demand on existing destinations means these places are becoming less attractive to the very people that have patronised them for many years and originally made them popular. Many sadly, are becoming almost rat races by the sea.

On July 1, an important part of Australia’s beachside history ended with the closure of the northern part of the Mooloolaba Caravan Park. This park has been the home of the beachside holiday for many generations of Aussie families, some of whom come from many miles inland and interstate to enjoy their yearly week or two by the beach.

The closure of this park is symptomatic of pressure being put on recreational/holiday resources that are getting scarcer particularly in accessible locations, where services and facilities catering to family’s needs are available. Mooloolaba’s closure is simply the most recent in a number of notable family park closures on the Eastern seaboard and represents a worrying trend of the loss of holiday destinations for budget-conscious families (and retired motorhomers).

While reasons for these park closures are often legitimate, they are not being replaced. Those that are in private hands tend to be sold for the land value and given their location, there is a ready market of beach-going holidaymakers for the property developer. Those parks that are in council hands are similarly sold off or closed for a number of reasons. We understand for example that, despite several years of protests and concerted efforts with a couple of petitions, the Mooloolaba closure is to convert the site to add to existing waterfront parklands. In  the meantime, the site will be used as a car park. The Sunshine Coast Regional Council stated that:

“The closure of the northern caravan park sites at Mooloolaba will allow Mooloolaba to transform into a world-class beach destination.”

Many regular beachgoers who holiday there would suggest that Mooloolaba already is a world-class beach destination.

Whatever the reasons, the closure of another spot to enjoy a budget friendly family beach holiday has disappeared and there are no plans for its replacement.

Several family members I spoke to deeply regretted the closure of the park and the loss of their annual beach holiday. Some families had been visiting Mooloolaba for decades, watched their children grow up with other ‘regulars’ in the sun and surf. Sadly, this closure will add pressure to other parks on the Sunshine Coast making regular or casual bookings that little bit harder to obtain.

While there is always the option of free camping at some beachside locations, families with children are not inclined to holiday at destinations with little or no infrastructure and unpatrolled beaches.

So, the question now remains where will the resources come from for those that enjoy an uncomplicated beach holiday without the crowds and competition for resources? The shrinking stock of caravan and holiday parks will result in a corresponding increase in demand and competition for a diminishing resource. Experience shows that in the face of greater demand on a diminishing resource, prices climb and consumer competition intensifies. Any economist will tell you that this is great for business – I’m far from convinced that, in a country like Australia, it is good for holidaymakers.

I’ve just returned from overseas where we stayed at Waikiki Beach. Yes, it is one of the iconic places to visit, but it is so crowded it is virtually impossible to walk along the beach. Just entering the water for a swim is dangerous with heaving crowds of visitors all wanting to grab their little bit of paradise. I really hope I’m wrong but, in the absence of any efforts  to replace ‘developed’ resources, I see the future for the Aussie beach holiday going the same way.

Rodney says crowd numbers will increase at fewer beaches if low-cost coastal campgrounds continue to close

Maybe I’m painting too grim a picture. Being in Queensland, I tend to see the loss of sensibly-priced beachside holiday opportunities as gaining in pace and being replaced with multi-storey resorts. Those very destinations that attracted budget-conscious holidaymakers has led to their ‘development’. Their very popularity has resulted in their  diminished appeal and their very success has resulted in their loss.

Let’s hope that in the (not too distant) future councils recognise that there is a large proportion of holidaymakers who still want an uncomplicated, reasonably-priced, family-friendly destination. Hopefully we don’t see the day arrive where our grandchildren will have to take a number before they can lay on the beach or catch a wave. If that day comes we’ll all be much poorer.

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Written: Sun 01 Oct 2017
Printed: October, 2017
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