qathet Regional District’s finance committee is recommending that the regional board increase camping fees at Shelter Point and Haywire Bay regional parks.
At the May 1 finance committee meeting, directors considered recommendations to increase single site camping fees to $30 per night during the high season, $25 a night if washrooms are closed at Shelter Point, and increase the fees for additional tents from $5 to $6 at both parks. At Haywire Bay, the recommendation was to increase the cabin rental fee to $60 per night.
qRD Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne asked if the regional board would be able to keep Haywire Bay’s camping fees the same.
Chief administrative officer Al Radke said the board could do whatever it desires, however, staff members were instructed during the budgetary process to make adjustments.
“It would be a waste of staff time to do all this hard work, present you this report, and now you say, sorry, too bad, too sad,” said Radke.
Gisborne said the reason he asked the question is because he thinks about Haywire Bay campground quite a bit and thinks about the purposes of why the regional district owns the campground and why it came into existence. He said Haywire Bay was created many years ago because a lot of city residents were going to Haslam Lake, which is Powell River’s water supply, camping around the water intake.
“There was a concern that all the sunscreen and human activity was getting into the water system,” said Gisborne. “We created Haywire Bay park many years ago and the idea was to provide a fairly cost effective way for locals to camp – folks who don’t have a lot of money – and it would be more like a rustic, old-school type of camping experience.
“It’s not like down at Willingdon Beach, where you have the flush toilets and all the fancy stuff. Hopefully, the working class and blue-collar folks can have a place they can go and camp that they can afford.”
Gisborne said things are getting tough for a lot of families right now and he was trying to think of how the Haywire Bay park is still meeting its original intent of being cost effective for local residents. He asked if it would be possible to have a two-tiered system, with a lower fee for qathet region residents and a higher fee for those from out of town.
Radke said anything is doable but it would be putting more stress on staff. Gone are the days of rustic camping, and if the board wants to subsidize these experiences, then the board should be prepared to pay for it through taxation and not the camping fees, he added.
Gisborne said he believes rustic camping still exists and there is camping at Inland Lake just down the road that has a much cheaper camping fee. He said he understands the increase in fees but he would rather see Haywire Bay park, just for the camping sites, stay at $25, and additional tents stay at $5. He said he supports the cabin rental fee going up to $60.
City of Powell River director Cindy Elliott said she liked the motion the way it is and indicated the increase is fairly reasonable. She said she was not in support of increases being supported by taxpayers and that users need to pay for the privilege of being able to stay in the campsite.
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick said Shelter Point park has a lot more amenities, but many campers have to pay to get there by ferry.
“That more than offsets what you might get in the way of amenities,” said McCormick.
Electoral Area E director and committee chair Andrew Fall said he likes the idea of the two parks having the same fee.
“From the public’s point of view, that’s the cost of camping in regional parks,” said Fall. “We have to balance this. These services cost money.”
The committee unanimously supported the increase to camping fees and cabin rental fees.
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