Goondiwindi will officially bid for the National Caravan Rally which is due to come to the Sunshine State within the next four years.
However, according to Goondiwindi Town Councillor, David McMahon, he has received confirmation from the organisers advising that a decision as to the venue has to be made by June 2008.
“I have spoken with the Goondiwindi P&A Society and they are comfortable with Goondiwindi’s bid going forward to the organisers.”
Cr McMahon said the long lead in period will assist in terms of planning for the event should Goondiwindi be successful.
“We have a long time to sort out the logistical issues which I don’t see as being a huge hurdle to overcome.”
“Councils and the P&A Society worked collaboratively together when we hosted the State Caravan Rally which saw three hundred and thirty (330) caravans at the Showgrounds for a week.”
“By the time this rally comes around we will probably be looking to one thousand (1,000) caravans here for up to ten (10) days. That probably equates to around one thousand eight hundred –two thousand (1,800-2,000) people”
Cr McMahon said Goondiwindi was competing against big urban areas on the coast.
“I am confident that our bid will stack up against the bigger areas.”
“The Showgrounds has approximately fifty-five hectares of land (116 acres) of land to which to cater for this event. We will certainly make a fuss of these people to a greater extent that if they were to go to a large urban area.”
“Additionally we will personally meet with the organisers this month, January, to go through our bid and iron out any issues. It might seem to be a long way into the future but you have start looking at events years in advance.”
