Main Roads WA cops criticism after rest stop near Albany bulldozed
The West Australian roads authority has drawn fire for bulldozing and closing off a rest stop used as a dumping ground for illegal campers.
The Marbelup rest stop, about halfway between Albany and Denmark on the south coast, was left looking like a landfill after the recent school holidays due to illegal campers and dumping.
Rubbish left in the area included piles of razors, food waste and an excrement-filled portable toilet.
Main Roads WA, which manages the South Coast Highway and its rest stops, initially suggested people misusing the rest area would be tracked down and fined.
But travellers in the area this week found the rest stop had been bulldozed and all access blocked.
Main Roads Great Southern regional director Andrew Duffield said ongoing misuse of the site and limited resources led to the closure.
"The decision there was based on our inability to be able to control people doing all the things it was suggested they were doing in there," he said.
Mr Duffield said the department had been reviewing rest stops on the network and chose to revegetate the site due to its proximity to the City of Albany.
"People could come into Albany if they're heading this way — we don't see that as a fatigue risk," he said.
The Marbelup rest area was the third stop Main Roads had closed in the past two years, but Mr Duffield said the department was reinvesting resources into improving other rest stops on the network.
Main Roads was asked how many rest stops across the WA network it had closed and upgraded in the last two years, but was yet to respond.
The closure has angered some road users, including the Australian Caravan Club, which said the decision was "disappointing" and posed safety issues for all road users.
Deputy chair Tom Smith said alternative management options should have been explored before the site was closed.
"Quite a high percentage of our members prefer to use these facilities when they're travelling to save money," he said.
"It's not the RV or the caravan that creates the mess, because a lot of them have got their facilities on board.
Mr Smith said regardless of its proximity to town, the closure posed a safety risk.
"Fatigue management is very important to people, especially as you get older, not just for the grey nomads but for anybody driving on the road," he said.
Western Roads Federation chief executive Cam Dumesny said the closure of the rest area highlighted a worrying trend.
"There's actually not enough of them as it is across the state," he said.
"We need those rest areas so the drivers can pull in, have their fatigue brakes, which are legally mandated to do — so losing rest areas when we've already got a shortage is certainly a major impact."
Mr Dumesny said the federation and Livestock and Rural Transport Association had lobbied the government to develop and upgrade heavy vehicle rest areas across the state.
"We all want these rest areas when driving a car or a caravan or a truck," he said.
"We've all got a social responsibility, like a BBQ at a community park — we use it, we clean it afterwards so that the next person can use it.
"That element seems to be missing."
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