Some towns do have suitable "RV" parking available. Inverell (northern NSW) is one that comes to mind that encourages GNs etc with a parking area close to both Coles and Woolworths, an excellent visitor centre and good reasonably priced caravan parks.

If possible we should support such towns and let the others go "whistle dixie".

PS:  (added in response to Pete, below) There is also an IGA nearby but not quite as close as Coles and Woolies.

-- Edited by jimricho on Tuesday 30th of November 2010 09:51:20 AM

We passed through Kiamma recently, beautiful area on the hill at the blowholes with no parking for vans.
There is car park & six / eight bus parks, the only long vehicle park is down at the bottom of the hill in the boat / trailer park which is sighn posted accordingly, so technicaly does not include c/vans.
I contacted the council about this & as to why the bus zones could not be a shared zone as we were around the area for a few hours & not one bus.

I received a written reply which stated that the reason for no parking on top of the hill was to prevent overnight camping ,  [ in the middle of the town ].
They prefered you to stay in one of their four c/parks, other wise use the boat trailer park where the sighn does not include vans, can,t win.

Toowoomba is another one, at the botanical gardens on the edge of the range.
Passed through there last year, all parking zones had just been repainted,again a car park that you cant get into with a van & about twenty bus zones sighned as such, no shared area.

An email to council received no reply, so I take it they dont want us there so thats easy to arrange.

I think it was Moamma, on the Murray where the shopping centre had about four C/van parking sites marked out in their car park.

Byron Bay is another one Jim, or maybe I didn't look hard enough.   It seemed to me that they certainly DISCOURAGED us grey nomads.

We found that a lot as well on our trip.

Narrabri have a very forward thinking parking area near their tourist information center. Easy to negotiate in and out, a real credit to them.

The Other Half just mentioned Longreach as a bad one Beth.

welcome wrote:

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I agree with the lot of you people...It's just so hard with a Coaster......What I have begun to do.Is email councils and complain  (Nicely) then I add That I was going to spend heaps but couldn't park

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It was suggested to me to write to the town newspaper, as council wouldn't care, would just throw it in the bin. So that's exactly what I did in the case of Longreach. I didn't hear anything of course. But I do think the newspaper is a better option. 

If you write to a council with a compaint you must include in your corospondence your wish for it to be tabled at the next general meeting, they are then by law required to table the document at the next general meeting. May not help but at least the complaint will be read out along with any other inward coraspondece.
cheers
blaze

blaze wrote:

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If you write to a council with a compaint you must include in your corospondence your wish for it to be tabled at the next general meeting, they are then by law required to table the document at the next general meeting. May not help but at least the complaint will be read out along with any other inward coraspondece.
cheers
blaze

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Good point Robert,

Would also suggest writing to the local visitor centre, perhaps a copy of the letter to council, as it may be that the local tourist body is lobbying on this issue, in which case it adds weight to their representations.

Another idea may be to write a note in the visitors' book at the local visitor centre highlighting the issue.  To have maximum effect the note should be phrased in a respectful and non-judgmental way and should include a name and address so that the centre manager can follow up.  (Anonymous complaints are usually treated with the contempt they deserve)

Jim

 

Try Cobram when next in area, caravan parking beside the old railway station, 50mt to woolies, bakeries, coffee shops, & usually friendly people, if there not i am!! des37

Yes it annoys us as well when you drive into a town and see a sign "CARAVAN FRIENDLY TOWN" and there is no bloody where to park so you can go shopping for your essentials or just window shop and have a look at the town maybe have a coffee

-- Edited by goinsoon on Tuesday 30th of November 2010 09:02:55 PM

Beth54 wrote:

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Longreach Qld is another bad one. (I think I've said this before on this site.)

You can't park anywhere near the info centre. And there's just a few street parking spots outside the supermarket. We, as grey nomads, didn't feel welcome there at all.

Barcaldine was great. Plenty of parking, and they welcome grey nomads.

As for Toowoomba, I wouldn't even attempt to park in the city centre with a caravan. Way too busy.

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The area in Toowoomba I refered to was the gardens on the very edge of town on the escarpment, not in the city.

 

Hi lyn-n-ken,, where the hell is Cobram?? where do i start ,, east of Albury, west of echuca, {happywanderer country} north of shepparton, onthe murray valley hwy, right on the mighty murray river, place of peaches& cream,more sunny days than qld,{well will be if it ever stops raining}, great free bush camps along river, no facilities, close to pubs & clubs & golf courses at barooga& tocumwal, from up nth travel down newell hwy thru the mighty metropolus of KOONOOMOO, blow horn & wave , don"tblink or you will miss me, des37,

Des you forgot... over the River from Berrigan!

There's one common theme through the whole of this thread and some other threads too, and that is how much more friendly and welcoming the inland towns, especially the smaller ones, are to the Grey Nomad traveller. They are the ones that deserve our support.