A BEACHFRONT block of land at Machans Beach has become a battleground between travellers looking for a free night's rent and nearby residents who want them gone.
The block of land, on Cinderella St, has more than 50m of beach frontage and is for sale with an asking price of $1.5 million.
But, interested buyers looking to inspect the site will be greeted by several campervans and tents after travellers took up residence on the block.
Jess Pigdon has been visiting the site for past two weeks with his girlfriend Kara Shepherd and said he kept coming back because of the location.
"They want $1.5 million for it which I don’t have in my back pocket," Mr Pigdon said.
"There is always people here. It is the perfect distance from the CBD."
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Mr Pigdon said he and others on the block had spoken to rangers but were told because it is private land, they could not be moved on.
Mr Pigdon said at busy times there could be as many as 12 vans and six tents on the site, but all those who used it made sure to keep it tidy.
"We leave it looking far better than when we came," he said.
One Machans Beach resident, who only wanted to be called Tony, said he had raised the issue with the council several times and wanted the people on the block to move on.
"I have got to pay rates to live here, they pay nothing and get to live on the beach," he said.
"If they are allowed to get away with it, I will go down there in a tent. It is just ludicrous and no one polices it."
Tony said he had seen a large build up of rubbish in the area since the trend began and said there would have to be hygiene problems because of the lack of amenities.
"If council is going to let them get away with it, they may as well build a toilet block," he said.
Quaid Real Estate agent Jay Beattie said he spoke to the owners, who live in New South Wales, yesterday and said they were not alarmed by the situation.
Mr Beattie said the same thing happened a few years ago and the people on the land were asked to move on without incident.
"He actually laughed and said, ‘Why wouldn’t you want to camp there,’ it’s beautiful," Mr Beattie said.
Mayor Val Schier, who lives at Machans Beach and often walks past the block, said no issues had been raised with her and she had not noticed a problem on the land.
"I walked past there the day before yesterday and there wasn’t anyone there," she said.
Council manager of environmental assessment Laurie Phipps said local laws prohibited the use of private property for camping and the situation on Cinderella St had been reported to council.
He said officers had investigated, issued notices for illegal camping and recorded vehicle registration numbers and names.
