Check Easter Bookings Before You Buy The Marshmallows
Victorian families hoping to camp in National and State Parks this Easter are being urged to check their campground bookings to avoid huge disappointment.
The Labour Day long weekend exposed a problem with Parks Victoria’s preparedness for campers, cancelling a booking made 6 months earlier just days before the booking date.
The booking was for the Jamieson Creek campground in the Great Otway National Park.
It was made by Jo and her family, who wrote to all five Members for Western Victoria, including Bev McArthur, and Member for Polwarth, Richard Riordan.
In her email, Jo said:
“I am part of a group of families who go away camping every year. In September 2020 (over 6 months ago) we booked AND paid for Parks Victoria campsites for the Labour Day long weekend. It was in the middle of the lockdown and we all needed something to look forward to.
“Now, three days before the booking is due to commence, we get this heartless email from Parks Victoria saying that they have cancelled our booking because of permits.”
Mrs McArthur, raised the issue in the Victorian Parliament, asking the Environment Minister, Lily D’Ambrosio what she intends to do.
“How will you improve the level of customer care Parks Victoria provide and stop our tourist economy becoming further sabotaged by your department and its bureaucracy?” Mrs McArthur asked.
Parks Victoria’s cancellation email to Jo indicated the campground would be open for bookings after 18th April, when it expects ‘final planning assessments’ for the site to be done.
However, the Parks Victoria site currently indicates that every site at the campground has been ‘sold’ right up to that date, and beyond, with some sites only available in mid-May.
“Is this campground open or shut, ready or not?” Mrs McArthur asked.
“How can the website booking page show it is sold out – if it’s not open? If it is closed, it should say that and not pretend otherwise.
“This is exactly the sort of poor, reckless attitude by this Andrews Government that creates confusion and reveals a couldn’t-care-less attitude to regional Victoria.
“This is the same Government that has thrown a tanty over the Federal Government’s half price airline tickets to back the tourism industry – and yet the Victorian Government can’t even manage a camp-ground in the bush”.
The Jamieson Creek campground is close to Wye River, the Cumberland River and Lorne.
“The Federal Government’s selection of the Avalon Airport as the Victorian destination for the half price tickets – would bring tourists to the doorstep of the Surf Coast and the Great Otway National Park.
“Clearly the Morrison Government understands this, but it’s hard work when the Victorian Government can’t sort out it’s end of the bargain.
“I urge people who have booked campsites for Easter, to double check the booking in the hope that their dream escape won’t be cancelled by Daniel Andrews just days out from pitching the tent and toasting the marshmallows.”
16 March 2021