Noosa Shire Council is escalating its crackdown on illegal camping by towing away vehicles parked overnight at a popular beach lookout. 

Backpackers have long enjoyed parking their campervans overnight at the Noosa National Park on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. 

The area has spectacular water views and access to the surf break. 

The council bans the practice and regularly issues parking fines, but has now stepped up its enforcement action. 

Nine premium beach-front car parking spots just outside the national park, on the corner of Mitti Street and Park Road, have been converted to tow-away zones between 10pm and 4am. 

Local laws manager Rob Smith said officers were issuing 20 to 30 fines a week, but some people were ignoring the existing "no camping" signs.

"There are still some who continue to flout the law, set up camp, leave rubbish, and cause all sorts of problems for local residents." 

Mr Smith said the 12-month trial could be extended to other parts of Noosa with further plans to use technology to catch "regular offenders". 

"Those restrictions are there to ensure everybody has equal access … [and] the parking spaces are not filled up day after day by illegal campers," he said. 

The tow-away signs do not apply to the dozens of car parking spaces within the national park or the street parking on Mitti Street.

The measures come as Noosa council ponders slapping tourists with a congestion tax to ease traffic gridlock during peak times.

'Cash grab'

At Noosa on Sunday, there was a mixed reception to the new rules. 

Canadian tourist Noah Vanveen labelled the measure a "cash grab" and questioned how the towing threat would work in practice.

"Are they going to tow them away with people in the cars? Because anyone who's here at 10pm till 4am is probably asleep in their car," he said. 

"It's just going to cost a bunch of travellers money, who are all coming here to spend their money." 

Mr Vanveen said he slept in his van closer to Maroochydore, about half an hour's drive south, because Noosa's regulations were too strict. 

Another tourist said the new rule made travellers feel unwelcome and was an overreaction to a minority of noisy and messy backpackers. 

More nuance needed

Noosa resident Vasse Yee said he understood the intent of the new restriction. 

"Overnight camping can definitely be abused ... We don't want any nuisances in our community," he said. 

But Mr Yee noted the housing crisis has driven many permanent residents into insecure accommodation such as campervans. 

"Rent here is so expensive now ... the [campers] are not just backpackers, some of them are Australians now," he said. 

"It's good that the council is doing what they can to maintain and keep everything in order ... but at the same time we also have to consider the [broader] situation."