Illegal campers risk access to Freo moles
Complaints about campervans parking illegally have prompted authorities to consider closing the gates to Fremantle's South and North moles at night.
But there is concern this last-resort measure will disadvantage fishermen who have been using the moles for decades.
As a result, Fremantle Ports and the City of Fremantle have been working together to find alternative solutions and have introduced more patrols and a new sign that says overnight camping is illegal.
The North Mole is currently closed to allow damage caused by winter storms to be repaired.
But when _The West Australian _ visited the South Mole recently, there were people in several vans camping overnight.
One van owner said staying on South Mole was a "stop-gap measure" while he searched for part-time work on his around-Australia holiday.
Another said he had seen the warning signs "but there are so many vans here when I arrived that I did not think anyone was going to be prosecuted".
Matt Bufton, who has been fishing from the moles for more than 20 years, said campervans had been a problem for a long time.
He said there had been times when the moles had been temporarily closed to keep them out.
"They are pains," he said.
"We come down here to fish and they've taken all the parking spots. And they're here all year round."
A spokesman for the city said officers were enforcing parking restrictions on the moles and issuing infringements to people who overstayed.
According to the Fremantle Ports annual report tabled in State Parliament, the illegally parked campervans were one of the main causes of public complaints in 2013-14.
Other complaints related to vehicle traffic, safety and the Fremantle Passenger Terminal.
Out of 12 complaints about odour, 10 were related to livestock vessels. The report said that when there was a cluster of complaints about an individual ship, the circumstances were always investigated.
Three complaints received in May about a livestock vessel visit resulted in an investigation that found weather conditions had contributed to the smell experienced in central Fremantle.
