Council staff met with fierce community backlash against a plan to change a tent camping area to a caravan area in a section of the Huskisson Beach Tourist Park.

Council’s Tourist Park manager Kevin Sullivan and director of Assets and Works Department Ben Stewart met with residents who left the staff in no doubt about their opposition to the proposal.

Mr Sullivan told the group council’s focus was on families and caravans and camper vans were where the market was.

However chairman of the Huskisson and Woollamia Voice Garry Kelson believed the move would price many families out of the market.

“This is one of the last true family camping areas here,” he said.

For the proposal to go ahead a number of trees would need to be removed and electricity and water would also need to be supplied to the sites.

Mr Sullivan said an arborist had already condemned some of the trees.

He said council had permission from Crown Lands to lodge a development application for the changes.

However Mr Kelson threatened another ‘bum tree’ situation.

“We have a problem if trees are being taken out for the sake of taking trees out.”

Mr Kelson called for more consultation between council and the community on the issue.

Mr Stewart told the residents a compromise was not out of the question.

The residents decided to wait for the DA to be lodged to see if any changes were included, before they take any formal steps.