One council has pulled its support from a “mixed use caravan park” proposal, which some say was actually a FIFO workers’ camp.

Town of Port Hedland councillors will no longer back the plan for a fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers' camp at Pretty Pool.

The town appointed third-party contactors to develop the site, which was labelled a “mixed use caravan park”.

But local residents as well as mining giant BHP Billiton criticised the “caravan park” label, saying the site was clearly designed with 348 short-stay rooms for transient workers.

The council received 42 formal submissions, highlighting the fierce opposition to the development.

The Port Hedland mayor has told the ABC that there was no duplicity in pitching the “caravan park”, and that the council wanted something more than a FIFO workers’ site.

“Certainly we weren't trying to mislead anyone and certainly we were very upfront with what the proposal included and that was put forward in the consultation and residents gave us their feedback accordingly,” Port Hedland Mayor Kelly Howlett said.

“This is the way we'd gone out and asked for proposals for a mixed used caravan park development.”

“Developers have said that just a caravan park will not be economically feasible on that site... it does need to be tied in with some other development.

“So if that is the case, then perhaps a lifestyle village or retirement village might be that sort of opportunity.”