May 16, 2019
Wooroolin’s newly sealed car park re-opened this week, and no one is happier to see it than Cr Ros Heit.
Ros, who lives on a farm with her husband Kerry just a few kilometres south of the town, has been agitating to get the car park upgraded ever since she was elected to Council in 2013.
The long strip of land that faces Wooroolin’s CBD has been a frequent source of complaints from locals.
In wet weather, high volumes of traffic passing through the car park turned the ground into a potholed mess.
And in dry weather, it was a persistent source of dust over neighbouring shops.
Dalton Park has become a popular free short-stay camping area in recent years, and the monthly Wooroolin Community Markets use the area, too.
This meant Wooroolin was presenting an unattractive face to visitors, another source of annoyance for local residents.
Round 2 of the State Government’s Works For Queensland program provided Council with $80,000 to get the much-delayed project completed.
On Thursday, Cr Heit inspected the car park and gave it a conditional thumbs up, noting several things still needed to be done to finish the job.
When complete, the upgrade will include a new set of picnic tables and chairs for visitors; a gate on the laneway next to the QCWA Rooms so members can access the rear of their Dalton Park building; and grass along the edge facing the CBD.
There’ll be a concrete footpath strip on the Dalton Park side, and possibly some reflectors on bollards near the car park’s realigned entrances to make night manoeuvring safer.
There may also be some future adjustments to the caravan parking area.
Ros believes these final touches could probably take “a month or two” but is confident the result will be worth the wait.
“We changed the car park entrances a little to make it safer for drivers to enter or leave the highway, and that will probably confuse some people a bit until they get used to it,” Cr Heit said.
“But the car park can now handle cars, caravans and trucks whatever the weather throws at us.
“Once the tar settles down and the grass grows back, I think Wooroolin is going to look like a really nice place to pull off the highway and take a break.”
When will the pedestrian bridge at Wondai be completed? Came to a grinding halt about November
Must agree Pete … it’s been an eyesore at the entry to the town for too long. And what about our dingoes???????
We asked Cr Heit about both the Wondai bridge and the dingos. We understand the bridge is open, but is waiting on construction of a new concrete footpath. The bridge’s bunting will be removed when this is built.
We also understand the dingoes are being recast in steel (rather than fibreglass) so they’ll be more durable in the future. When built, they’ll also be sunk mounted with bolts to make them much less easy to move.