GREY nomad Ken Brown is campaigning to get a disused Queensland truck inspection station reopened as a rest area.

The former Queensland Transport site off the Pacific Highway near the southbound Redland Bay turn off has been closed for six years and is now a rubbish-strewn eyesore, retired interstate truck driver Mr Brown told Caravanning News.

"It has broken bottles, overgrown bushes and general rubbish everywhere," he said. "It is blocked off from the highway with concrete barriers."

Site of the former truck inspection station on the Pacific Highway

Mr Brown, of Shailer Park, Brisbane, wants the area converted into a rest area for caravanners and truck drivers and has enlisted the help of local councillor Darren Power and Member of Parliament Barbara Stone, who has taken up the matter with Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace.

Mr Brown commented: "There is no rest area from the twin BP roadhouses on the Bruce Highway to Coomera on the Pacific Highway near Dreamworld ... a distance of 85km. So you can see there is a pressing need for one to deal with driver fatigue and on-road safety grounds."

He stressed he was not advocating free overnight stays at the site. "I am only asking that there is a six-hour limit and no free camping," he said.

Mr Brown has also suggested the area would be an ideal Driver Reviver site and could be called the Grey Nomads Rest Area.

"This project is not about Ken Brown," he said. "It's about an Australian-wide association called the Grey Nomads Caravan Association and began on our web-based forum when someone asked what could be done to assist fellow caravanners and road safety.

"I have wondered about this disused truck inspection station for a few years."  

He and wife Margaret are experienced caravanners, having owned four caravans and covering thousands of kilometres.

"We sold our last one in 2008 and now have our house on the market," he explained. "We are going to buy a Winnebago Longreach motorhome and tow a Suzuki Grand Vitara 4WD ... and follow the sun."

See also:  ACC calls for more rest areas

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