Shire of Harvey announce starting date for RV Friendly Trial in Australind, Brunswick, Harvey and Yarloop

A South West council has announced the starting date of a trial which has some local caravan park owners up in arms.

The Shire of Harvey has announced its RV Friendly Trial will start on March 31, offering those have a fully-contained caravan or recreational vehicle the option of a free short-stay option for 48 hours.

The four locations selected by the Shire to start the trial are Brunswick Junction Showgrounds, the Christina Street Reserve in Australind, the northern section of Snell’s Park in Harvey and Yarloop’s Teesdale Street Recreation Ground.

Australind’s site will move to the Leschenault Estuary Eco Museum if works on the Australind Jetty are completed before March next year.

Harvey Shire president Paul Gillett said the trial would focus on attracting travellers currently bypassing the council as a stopover as they travelled to other areas offering free RV short-stay options.

“It seeks to maximise sustainable economic benefits from RV and caravan tourism through increasing visitation numbers, increasing spending and extending the length of stay of RV and caravan travellers in the Harvey Region”, he said.

While the wider community thrust its support behind the idea — with more than 80 per cent of respondents to last year’s community consultation period in support of the trial — five of the council’s seven caravan parks were opposed.

The trial is scheduled to last 12 months and will be reviewed after six months.

Sites will be able to be booked on the Harvey Region tourism website.