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4d ago

NSW National Parks seeking feedback on proposed changes re. camping fees and bookings

www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au

Improving camping in NSW national parks

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is seeking community feedback on proposed changes to camping in NSW national parks and reserves.

Proposed changes include:

the introduction of consistent state-wide camping fees simplified bookings to deliver fairer camping experiences for national park visitors
improved management of persistent campground issues such as people booking space and not cancelling or turning up.

Further community feedback will help the NSW Government to decide on next steps and whether proposed changes are adopted and implemented.

Please read the consultation paper outlining details of the proposal and share your feedback by 11.59pm on Sunday 25 May 2025.

8 comments

I think that the key would to not have the bookings managed by an outside contractor, but monitored by an outside auditor.
I reckon that half of the Ghost Camping issue in Victoria is either ParksVic don’t want too many people at a campsite or the Bookings contractor gets paid a commission on bookings, so add fake bookings to boost KPIs.
The other half are arseholes who think that they would enjoy an empty campsite more than a campsite with other friendly people.
- I think it's more that it's very easy (and now free) to book a campsite and there's zero incentive for people to cancel bookings they aren't going to use.
  Ghost bookings would be a labour intensive way to limit the number of people at campsites (ParkVics would have far easier ways to do that) and Bookings contractor commissions? On free bookings? That wouldn't be very lucrative.
- Parks does often give the impression that they'd rather the plebs didn't actually go into their parks, but I think them booking ghost camps might be a step too far given they could just reduce the nominal capacity further to get the same effect.
  I would bet the vast majority of the problem is your second option of people booking out campgrounds to avoid others (with a side helping of those who aren't sure which day they want to go out so they book all options). Looking at who has a record of cancelling bookings would probably allow one to cut out a lot of this as I suspect you'd find a bunch of repeat offenders.

8 comments