Thursday’s Ordinary Council Meeting regarding banning free camping at the Newey.
Cobar Shire Councillor Julie Payne walked out of last week’s Ordinary Council Meeting in disgust and said she’s now washed her hands of Council and won’t be taking part in any further Council meetings or events.
Cr Payne left 20 minutes into last Thursday’s meeting after having her say on the first agenda item, a Notice of Motion she’d put forward calling on her fellow councillors to support no camping at the Newey.
She said given that it had been seven years since the original motion of Council (dated July 27, 2017 that Council and the community support free camping at the Newey and create a Plan of Management), had been passed and had not yet been acted upon, that Council should move forward and declare the Newey Reserve as a no camping area.
The Newey has not been open for free camping since March 2018 after Council received a directive from the NSW Department of Industry—Crown Lands and Water to close the area to free campers.
Cr Payne said circumstances surrounding the original motion of 2017 to allow free camping have changed greatly in the past seven years.
“At the time there were no other options available for free camping in close proximity to the town,” Cr Payne told the meeting.
“But during the last seven years, Cobar’s been more than generous with multiple options for free camping.
“Some of these options include Cornish Rest, RSL, the Old Res, Glenhope and recently a new area adjacent to the Heritage Park (which incidentally I noticed hasn’t been utilised by any free campers yet), is an already large area at a cost to Council of $130,000 out of the budget which wasn’t allowed for but we went ahead and we made this available,” she said.
“Would this not indicate we have plenty of free camping available and do we really need to include the Newey as a free camping option?”
Cr Payne said as she’s been openly opposed to free camping at the Newey, her fellow councillors may have queried why she was now deciding to upset the status quo and bring the matter before Council again.
“I want it resolved,” Cr Payne told The Cobar Weekly.
“So I bit the bullet. I thought the other councillors might have had a change of heart, because we don’t need it as a free camping area anymore,” Cr Payne said.
“Because the term of these councillors is coming to an end, I wanted to have something finished and conclusive rather than hang over for the next council.
“I walked out because I was very disappointed with the decision of the other councillors.
“I was disappointed that nobody actually gave a reason why they still want it down there,” she said.
“Cr Simpson said she supported free camping but she wanted it regulated, which is fine but nobody else got up and said why we still want it there, or need it there.”
Cr Payne said she hoped there would be a respectful debate on the matter but was disappointed that only a few comments were made.
Cr Michael Prince said he was concerned with the wording of the motion which would prevent local kids from camping at the Newey.
“The way it’s worded now, that couldn’t go on for local kids,” he said
Cr Payne said she was concerned that allowing any form of camping could open it up for use by homeless people (as she’d heard has become a serious problem in Dubbo).
Cr Payne did receive the support of one other councillor, Cr Tony Chaplain.
Cr Chaplain said he was concerned at how free camping at the Newey would be regulated.
“It’s further away from the township and my concern is how do we police it, if we did have caravans at the Newey?
“If we allocate five spots for example, seven come in, who polices that?
“Is that another resource from Council itself to do that?
“It’s a concern for me,” he said.
“And it’s a pretty restricted area to start with in a practical sense.”
Cr Chaplain said he does take into account that Cobar has had 7,700 visitors pass through this year and that as a council “we can facilitate to an extent” to make visitors welcome but, he said he didn’t feel Council needed to make the Newey another designated area for free campers.
In an interview with The Cobar Weekly on Friday, Cr Payne said she had hoped discussing the matter in an open forum such as the council meeting, rather than in a council workshop (which is closed to the public), would show the public how she and other councillors feel about free camping at the Newey.
“I have been elected as a spokesperson by all the people that come to me to tell me their views about it.
“I walk it every day.
“I’m very passionate about it, and it’s not just me,” she said.
“We have seen the number of users grow including visitors and local residents of Cobar.
“These include cyclists, kids, mums with prams, mobile scooters, Park Run, people exercising dogs, fishermen, photographers and more.
“The wildlife and birds have returned including recent regular sitings of an echidna puggle who quite often shares the walking track.”
Cr Payne said it had been a privilege to have been elected to council eight years ago.
“My commitment was to protect, maintain and improve the town’s assets.
“I do not believe allowing free camping at the Newey fits my commitments,” she said.
Cr Payne said she will not be attending any more council meetings, workshops or functions and will not be looking to stand for re-election in September.
