JACK Dempsey, who's also running for mayor, is proposing an RV friendly super park in Bundaberg. 

He says he'd also look at enhancing the facilities at Gin Gin and Childers. 

I've had a look at the list of Queensland RV friendly towns listed on the Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia's website. 

Childers is listed, but not Bargara, Bundaberg, Burnett Heads, Elliott Heads, Gin Gin, Innes Park, Moore Park or Woodgate.

I agree with Jack that the economy of the Bundaberg region would be enhanced by having more RV friendly sites.   

The Childers Chamber of Commerce has been trying to get RV friendly signs put up in Childers for around 18 months.

After the council saying it was a Main Roads issue and Main Roads referring us back to the council, we were finally able to get the council and Main Roads along to one of our meetings. 

Common sense prevailed and we were provided with a way forward. 

It was then left in the hands of council to make changes to the signs we'd already bought and to put them up on the outskirts of town. 

It's now been several months and we're still waiting for council to action it. 

I know the Gin Gin Chamber of Commerce has also been raising concerns with the council for over a year about the need for signs at the northern and southern approaches to their town to direct RV tourists to where they can easily pull up and park.

To this day, nothing has been done. 

I definitely think that work needs to be done to ensure that Gin Gin, as the highway town that's the northern entrance to the Bundaberg region, gets decent signage and obtains RV friendly status.

The council doesn't seem to appreciate how important it is for local businesses that all RV tourists passing through our region's towns know we have facilities for them, as it encourages them to stop and spend money in the towns. 

I think setting up more RV friendly areas in the Bundaberg region is a great idea, especially if it can be done at little or no cost to ratepayers, and I congratulate Jack for the work he's done looking into this idea.

I'm not convinced, however, that Bundaberg city needs an RV "superpark", whatever that might include.

This is a proposal that obviously will require consultation to be undertaken across the whole of the Bundaberg region.    

I think it would be a much better idea to have RV friendly facilities in various locations around the Bundaberg region, as well as in Bundaberg city, so that all parts of our region have the same opportunity to benefit from RV tourism. 

I know that residents in places like Moore Park and Elliott Heads etc often feel forgotten by council and often feel that Bundaberg city gets the bulk of council's support and resources, to their detriment. 

I can't see any reason why they shouldn't have RV friendly facilities if Bundaberg city is going to get them.     

And I'm sure the Childers and Gin Gin communities wouldn't want to be overlooked by RV tourists who decide to head to a "supercamp" in Bundaberg, particularly if it allow longer stays.  

As RV friendly facilities generally allow only relatively short stays, having more RV friendly facilities in the Bundy region will give RV tourists the option to stay longer in our region without having to travel very far. 

There's no reason why we couldn't have RV friendly trails from Childers to Bundy to Gin Gin, and vice versa. 

This would ensure that small tourist attractions (like the Childers Wine Trail and Mystery Craters at South Kolan), local businesses (like the South Kolan Pub), aquatic parks (like Bucca) and camping grounds (like Smith's Crossing) along the trail could benefit from the RV tourists passing by.

TROY MADLE 

Bundaberg Regional Council mayoral candidate