The Gladstone region in Queensland is pushing ahead with plans to attract more grey nomads by creating an RV- friendly camping facility at the Miriam Vale showground.
It will be low cost, and there will be hot showers, toilets and other amenities. Gladstone Regional Council is currently calling for expressions of interest to run the new area, with councillors confident that travellers will contribute hugely to the local economy
“The issue has always been: what’s RVs contribution to the region, do you know what, if we do nothing, then we’ll go backwards, so we will be pro-active,” councillor Glenn Churchill told Central Queensland News. “We’re now looking to see what the priority list will be for the Gladstone region.”
Many local businesses have long pushed for this sort of initiative.
Sue Thorne, who owns The Shop in Miriam Vale, said it could be the town’s ‘saviour’.
“We rely heavily on the nomad traffic that comes through during the winter period,” she said. “At the end of the day you have to give people what they want.”
She said grey nomads told her that they liked the Alf Larsons/Lions Park, which was redeveloped by the council to encourage people to stop, but they were disappointed that there was nowhere to pull up with their vans … so they left.
“Whether the council sees it as a necessary thing or not, it’s the way of the world now,” Ms Thorne said.
Miriam Vale Hotel owner Mitch Brennan also welcomed the news.
“I think it’s a great idea because all the little businesses around the area are struggling,” he told the Central Queensland News. “It’s got to bring some sort of business to the town, even if they just buy a cup of coffee and put some fuel in the car.”
In a separate development, the council has also decided to allow the Baffle Creek Community Inc to operate a small commercial caravan park on their lease.
The council’s manager of executive service Michael Colen said the Baffle Creek plan was the ‘ideal scenario’ for the council.
“They’ve come to us and said ‘we want to do this’ and it’s very easy for council because we’re not the ones out there driving it,” he said. “From our perspective that’s what we’re really keen to do, to find out the communities that are passionate about it, be that a business or a community group.”
Mr Colen told the Central Queensland News that there would always be blend of free, low-cost and high-cost facilities in the region.
· Comment below
We are heading north soon, destination Mareeba Showground, we look forward stopping in Gladstone for a week or two
Be like Kulin WA, 72 hr transit stop, push button 3min hot showers, a drop box with lid on for travellers to put their shopping dockets etc in, so as they can estimate money spent in the town. Also have a new caravan park if desired
I hope Grey Nomads support the low cost camps and not the caravan parks. The carvan parks did not wanted GN`s during the mining boom years.
I will support them but on absolutley no condition will I support Gladstone as it was only a few years ago that we were all told gladstone didnt need grey nomads as our Parks are full of miners etc and we were just a nuisance. They were charging ridulous prices in the boom and treated us like shit.We have long memories Gladstone.But YES I WILL support Baffle Creek and Miriamvale. Cheers STEVO.
Once was told by office staff at a Gladstone park that we were lucky to get a site as they were now catering to mining and only kept a few sites so they could retain C/P status. Boom over and now they want us. I don’t think so. will visit elsewhere.
Let’s keep it above board, this push for development in National Parks has lead to corrupt behaviour and results have been shown to be fraudulent without any concern from councillors, Glenn Churchill and his drive to get a billion dollar resort in the World Heritage Marine Park has only been discussed around realestate agents and so called tourism boards, much of this push has hidden agendas. It’s funny how no one trusts the council as a tradition, it’s time to look a little closer at the names on the documents and their supporting evidence. Fraudulent is defined as an unjustified claim, some of these link roads and their supporting budgets are claiming public approval, Deepwater National Park needs protection not fraudulent claims for a link rd route! Read between the lines, LNG smashed the country not just Gladstone, they were just the epicentre of the sell out, while these clowns told us its what we wanted, follow your EIS developers and councillor mates! You are being watched closely! Reedy Creek Reserve closed to development.