By Margaret Maccoll
Just unlocking the toilets and showers at the Cooroy RV Stopover will immediately increase its patronage, a report to Noosa Council advised.
The RV stopover was established by Council in 2015 to address an identified need to cater for RV travellers in the Noosa hinterland.
Council called for Expressions of Interest to manage the facility after findings last August that the current management agreement provided a poor financial return and patronage was “modest at best”.
Council’s suggested options for the facility included investing in new amenities and facilities, taking over management or closing the facility whilst its preferred option called for the facility to remain open with reduced operating costs.
Current managers remain Council’s preferred managers following assessment by an EOI panel and with Council incurring an expected cost of $10,000.
At the general meeting on Monday councillors voted to defer a decision on the expressions of interest submissions to manage the site.
Noosa Mayor Tony Wellington asked for the deferment to enable further consideration of the costs of subsiding the facility.
A report requested by council to consult with the car and pony club which are regular users of the adjacent showgrounds. It was prepared by Doug Claydon and Ray Kelly in conjunction with Cooroy Chamber of Commerce. It found usage of the site could be increased if the toilets were opened, the words “self-contained vehicles only” be deleted from the signage and a BBQ to be installed.
An RV user on the site this week said having travelled around Australia for five years he had not seen any other site with locked toilets and showers and believed it was a definite deterrent to users.
