Freedom camping is fuelling nationwide political debate in Australia as a rapidly expanding recreational vehicle (RV) market impresses upon regional and urban communities its strong desire to avoid traditional caravan parks and the features that they present/represent. Community leaders are being lobbied to consider the needs of all types of caravanning visitors to their communities. Conflict and positional power struggles are thus surfacing within national caravanning communities and within national, state and local community governance arenas. This paper provides an overview and an assessment of the history and status quo of the issues. It is structured to first set the broader political contest within a local context, and this informs a working definition of freedom camping. We then review the growing, but limited and fragmented, international literature concerning freedom camping; discuss the phenomenon of freedom camping with reference to supply and demand issues, including the oversimplified descriptions of freedom campers' motivations; and finally, highlight the complex nature of stakeholder engagement and influences on policies as they relate to freedom camping through policy dialogues. The planning and management of spaces and places as limited resources are inherently political activities and are valued for a variety of competing uses by users with diverse perceptions and motivations across time. Through this exploratory analysis, we identify the perspectives of key stakeholders in the policy process, provide a baseline for future discourse on issues relating to freedom camping and conclude with a call for further critical analysis on this subject to inform rational debate on policy-making, planning and management implications for regional and urban communities.

Purpose This paper aims to purposely place community and its stakeholders at the forefront of an investigation of positive and negative social, economic and environmental impacts of the sharing economy in the specific context of Airbnb by drawing upon the triple bottom line (TBL) framework of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative enquiry through a “scoping approach” with the search of relevant electronic databases identified a range of conceptual and empirical studies in the period from 2008 to 2018 informing a profile focussed on the triple bottom line impacts. Findings The criteria limited search yielded 23 focal articles, which investigated or discussed Airbnb impacts on local communities. Analysis of these articles informed a three-pillar tabulation of positive and negative impacts, which are presented against four key stakeholder groupings. Research limitations/implications The study is exploratory, and further research, especially confirmatory research, is recommended. Practical implications The study’s value extends to praxis. Guided by findings, real-time planning and policy-making are already underway within the authors’ community. Additionally, an extension project, as requested by the community, is now investigating direct traditional accommodation provider impacts. Social implications Understanding of the social issues concerning Airbnb and indeed, the wider sharing economy, is broadened through identified need for further social impact research. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to apply a “scoping approach” to holistically illuminate the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb at the micro-level in each of the three domains of sustainability. The research methodology is shown to be effective, with positive community impact, and will easily adapt to other destinations grappling with policy decisions.

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Purpose Scholarly research into community members’ views on the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb on the local community is sparse, especially in regional Australia. The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of key informants in the Byron Shire of Australia about the impacts of Airbnb on the local community, as well as possible solutions to the problems. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach of in-depth interviewing using a semi-structured interview guide was used to capture the views regarding the impacts of Airbnb held by 22 key informants in the Byron Shire community. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings The 22 interviewees identified five main positive impacts of Airbnb on the Byron Shire community and eight main negative impacts of Airbnb. All participants said they wanted more regulation of Airbnb properties to help address the negative impacts of Airbnb in the community. Eight specific recommendations were offered by the interviewees. Research limitations/implications The negative impacts of Airbnb felt by local community are more extensive and deleterious than have been accounted for in the literature. Research into community stakeholder perspectives is important, in order to gain a fuller view of the costs and benefits of sharing economy, especially with regard to short-term letting or holiday letting in tourism centres, as well as potential for more sustainable solutions to the issues. Practical implications The findings are being used to inform policy makers’ decisions in managing Airbnb in the Shire. Social implications The involvement of key informant community members in this study highlights that there is much common ground between different stakeholders. This type of research may help to provide a sense of enfranchisement and empowerment. This is important in fostering a more balanced public debate, as well as more sustainable approaches to managing the issues. Originality/value This paper is the first to explore the views of a range of different key informants in the regional tourist area of Byron Shire in Australia with regard to the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb on the local community, as well as possible solutions to the issues raised by Airbnb.

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