New plan: Camping ground to replace power station

Tel Aviv considers a plan to turn the Reading area into a campsite for tourists who want to experience the country on the road.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
ta camp site 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy)
ta camp site 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy)
If City Hall has its way, the giant diesel-fuel containers on the beach north of the Reading power station will be removed and the area will be turned into an American-style RV (recreational vehicle) park and camping ground, reports the Hebrew weekly Yediot Tel Aviv. The city is currently considering a plan to create the first genuine caravan park and camping ground in Israel, with designated areas for RVs to park and to hook up to electricity, water and sewerage, and for campers to set up tents. According to the report, the area, opposite the Sde Dov airport, is currently being used by the Israel Electric Corporation and contains two giant diesel fuel containers. The city has already reached an agreement with the corporation to dismantle the containers, level the ground and open the area to the public. But instead of merely allowing the area to become another ordinary swimming beach, the city is considering a plan to turn it into a reserve that would bring in a different brand of tourist than the usual Tel Aviv visitor - the kind of tourist who is uninterested in staying in hotels and who wants to experience a country by its roads. Traveling by RV is common and popular across North America and Europe, especially with families, who find that the vehicles are cheap and convenient for travel and accommodation. And the parks and camping grounds are plentiful in cities and nature reserves in both continents. But despite a plethora of attractive tourist destinations within reasonable driving distances from one another in Israel, the caravan culture is unknown, and most tourists stay in hotels and travel in organized groups, while the more independent and adventurous types set up tents in car parks or on beaches at random. "Our country is not so big. A camping site for caravans could be an excellent solution for travelers," said a municipal official involved with the plan. "Tourists who hire a caravan could go out in the morning to sites in the north or the south, travel all day, and then at night come back to their base in north Tel Aviv." The report said a delegation of Tel Aviv municipal officials would soon visit a well-known RV park in Europe to see the possibilities for themselves, and the city hoped it could have the plans ready so that work could begin within a year.