THE days of people parking their campervans around Cook Park and using them as mobile homes are numbered.
Rockdale Council is set to spend $15,000 erecting No Parking signs prohibiting vehicles from staying overnight in the area.
Ramsgate beach residents have long complained about people sleeping in their campervans or cars around the park, in some cases for extended periods.
Rockdale mayor Shane O’Brien said council parks were not for camping.
‘‘It is something that has been a concern for residents for a long time,’’ Councillor O’Brien said. ‘‘Our public parks are not there for people to stay indefinitely.’’
A Leader article in February reported one van had parked in the area for more than eight months, while 10 more had parked opposite Ramsgate beach.
The $15,000 will be spent erecting 60 signs prohibiting parking along roads adjacent to Cook Park, between President Avenue and Sandringham Street from 9pm to 5am.
Parking will also be banned between 11pm and 5am at two parking areas within Cooks Park. The signs are expected to go up in January and a trial of the scheme will run until April 1.
A council report on people living in their cars near the park noted that although some campers had ‘‘genuine cases of homelessness’’, for others it was ‘‘a lifestyle choice to spend extended periods sleeping over in various forms of mobile homes and using the public toilets for their own domestic purposes’’.
Are you happy to see people banned from parking overnight around Cook Park?