Luxury glamping tents are being torn out of one of Victoria’s most popular Alpine holiday towns and the industry says the state government is to blame.
Glamping tents at the NRMA Bright Holiday Park must be removed by the end of this week, despite Alpine Shire approving their installation almost five years ago.
The four heavy-duty canvas tents, which cost $80,000 to $100,000 each installed, have been sitting empty for five years after the local council deemed the them as buildings and said they were not compliant.
Industry figures are now warning that Victoria is the only state in Australia yet to legislate on clear provisions for glamping accommodation in tourist destinations and the uncertainty is costing the state millions of dollars in lost tourism revenue.
Leon Juffermans, founder of leading luxury glamping accommodation supplier GlamXperience, based in Pakenham, said he was frustrated that different councils were applying the rules differently and said that more clarity was needed from the state government.
“(It’s) really sad because we build these tents all over Australia in caravan parks and in council-owned caravan parks, especially here in Victoria but up here the Alpine Shire says well we don’t think it’s a tent, it’s a building so you don’t get your permit and for the past five years its been truly a disaster.”
The tents have been successfully installed in other council areas including Phillip Island, Castlemaine, Bendigo and in Inverloch and the Great Ocean Road without issue.
Gary Anderton, General Manager for Tourist Parks at Caravan and Residential Parks Victoria, said Victoria was the only state that did not have legislated provisions for glamping and that it risked haemorrhaging tourism dollars if glamping rules were not addressed for councils to use.
“Improving glamping opportunities will attract new visitors, boost Victorian manufacturing and unlock millions of dollars in private investment across regional Victoria.
The demand is there, investment is ready and parks are eager to diversify their accommodation offerings, an offering which Victorians already love.
What is holding back projects and multimillion dollars worth of private investment for regional Victoria is not a lack of interest, but uncertainty around the planning pathway.”
He called on the state to take action.
An NRMA spokesperson said the tents would now be removed and put up interstate.
“Safari Tents are highly popular with thousands of our patrons at NRMA Holiday Parks around Australia, and with other operators,” they said.
“The removal of these tents at Bright is at the behest of the local council. Unfortunately, NRMA’s appeal on this matter was unsuccessful.”
Opposition spokesman for tourism and planning David Southwick has written to minister Nick Staikos calling on him to urgently act on the “inconsistent interpretations” of the current rules.
“The need for this guidance has become increasingly urgent,” he said.
“Caravan and camping tourism contributes approximately $2.64 billion annually to Victoria’s economy, generates around 12 million visitor nights and accounts for almost half of all regional overnight stays. Communities such as Bright rely heavily on tourism and investment in innovative accommodation options such as glamping is essential to
maintaining their competitiveness and supporting local employment.”
It is understood the Department of Transport and Planning is currently developing guidance material for glamping, tiny homes and other structures in caravan parks and on private land, with changes expected to be finalised this month, and Mr Southwick called for it to be urgently released.
The guidance will hopefully deliver more consistency across councils and for Municipal Building Surveyors when applying the regulations.
A Government spokesperson said: “We have strong building permit requirements in place to keep Victorians safe and we expect local councils to enforce them with common sense.”
The Alpine Shire was contacted for comment.