Grey nomads visiting the Queensland mining city of Mount Isa will soon find a convenient new place to park their rigs … but it’s not a spot for overnight camping.
Mount Isa City Council has started work to tidy up the base of the Frank Aston Hill opposite KMart Plaza and the aim is to make life easier for travellers.
The new parking area will allow up to 15 caravans and campervans to park near the shopping centres, freeing up other parking spots for standard vehicles.
A council spokesperson told the North West Star said that the site would be available for daytime parking only and no overnight stops would be permitted.
“Work should take three weeks to complete, with sealing of the car park depending on the availability of sealing contractors,” the spokesperson said.
The North West Star reports that the project cost $85,000 and forms part of the council’s parking review throughout the city.
We parked there earlier this year with our rig, unless they extend it a bit and make the entrance and exit a bit friendlier, I can’t see it accommodating many vans at all. Maybe 15 if they are all Combie campers. We had trouble turning around with our Jeep and 24ft van.
Parking in Bathurst (NSW) is a very long uphill walk from the shopping centre
Congrats to Mt Isa for the forethought and consideration given to travellers. Apart from Charters Towers there are very few places that sprin to mind. Oh! I suppose Rockhampton does . If only councils realised the return on investment by providing these spaces. It is far too hard to hunt around a busy shopping precinct with a van in tow in unfamiliar territory.
Fifteen allocated spaces are not nearly enough at Mt Isa – I would consider double that. As Mt Isa is considered to be the main provisioning point for Nomads travelling to and from NT and nearly all need to access BCF & the K Mart Plaza area. Parking is also desperately needed around Foodworks, Supercheap and Harvey Norman shops on the Eastern side of town. We typically spend hundreds of dollars each time we go through MT Isa on vehicle servicing, Gas, Fuel, and foodstuffs additionally we like to have lunch and coffee in the cafes.
What an excellent asset for the grey nomads travelling through Mt Isa. This council has always been progressive and forward thinking like this will ensure that the city prospers whilst meeting the needs of the travelling public.
The shopping centre in Gympie on the highway has dedicated RV spaces in a back street. The only problem is that it’s nearly always full of ordinary vehicles who can’t be bothered to negotiate the busy carpark. Hope that doesn’t happen in other places which make the effort to help those in larger vehicles.
There’s not enough & the council is too weak to police it. There’s plenty of parking space in town at Nelson Reserve, within walking distance to IGA & the main st. Much easier to get big rigs in & out of also
Great to see a council making the effort. Not many that do.
Merredin in the WA wheatbelt is one that has and we always stop there as it has a great bakery as well.
Warwick in Queensland has some RV and van spaces next to the park in Palmerin Street, the main street, only a few minutes walk from the shopping mall.
Byron bay needs to get its act together for long vehicle parking, or maybe there happy without us.