Today as I was driving south out of Gympie I saw nine (9) caravans on the road before I reached the Bunnings turn-off.
Also two or three weeks ago when I was returning from Cooroy I passed eleven (11) caravans heading towards Gympie and twenty (20) heading south.
Not one of those caravans or motorhomes would have stopped in Gympie.
There is nowhere for them to park, and leave their mobile homes to explore Gympie.
The shopkeepers are missing out on trade no matter how small or trivial some might claim it to be.
The truth is the businesses in Gympie are only supported by the local community, however, any extra income is a bonus.
I am surprised the Chamber of Commerce has not been beating down the council office doors demanding something be done to provide them with some support.
The council was very quick to devolve itself of the old caravan park, but Gympie needs all the support it can get if it is to survive the opening of the by-pass.
Any site determined by the council, should they eventually get around to it, needs to be close to Gympie and large enough for a park-and-ride venture to be constructed alongside the caravan park.
This could assist in alleviating some of the parking problems within the township area as well as providing caravan park customers easy access to town,
These park-and-ride systems are successfully operating in other places in the world and there is no reason they would not work here.
In the short term, some form of caravan park could be located at Lake Alford.
The council would need to build a set of showers and toilets.
Anything would be better than the nothing we have now.
– L. Pethick
Gympie
