McKinlay Shire Council has missed out on the latest round of the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Funding.
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The Council applied for the BBRF to double the capacity of their Julia Creek RV Friendly Site where visitors can camp for free in their self-contained vans for 96 hours, next to Julia Creek watercourse.
The plans also incorporated a new 4km walking trail to enhance community liveability and visitor experience.
Mayor Belinda Murphy said plans had been out for community consultation since November 2016 and it was a crucial project for liveability and economic sustainability.
She said that in 2012, around 383 self contained vehicles used the site and this figure grew to 2363 permits in 2016 and another 1921 vans had arrived so far this year.
The Mayor said council earns no revenue from the site but the visitors were a welcome source of income for local businesses particularly during the last four years of drought.
“Extrapolated figures from visitor surveys show an injection of $104,000 in July 2017 alone from visitors to this site,” she said
McKinlay Shire Council applied for $3.2 million for this project from the BBRF.
“Council is not in a position to fully fund the project with our small rates base,” the Mayor said.
“We will push hard in the next round as this is a project that is extremely important to the economic and social fabric of our Shire.”