Scenic art improves Campbell St outlook
Motorhome users want to park up in a scenic spot along the Manawatu River while they stay in Palmerston North.
But for now, they have a car park in Campbell St, a commercial and industrial area close to the city centre, looking at a mural of what they’re missing.
The city council decided last year to trial the central part of the public car park as a campervan park for five motorhomes.
The site has only just gone official, in time to host British and Irish Lions fans on a detour to Palmerston North later in June.
Department of Conservation contractor Stella Mcqueen, whose specialty is field work researching native fresh water fish populations, has spent the best part of five years living in a self-contained campervan.
A frequent visitor to Palmerston North, she found her way to Campbell St through a New Zealand Motor Caravan Association link.
She said it was a surprisingly quiet spot, with big parking spaces well orientated for her solar panels to catch the sun.
Mcqueen said being in the central city was convenient, with shops and, more importantly, the showers at the Ladies’ Rest rooms, within easy walking distance.
She was also impressed with the Mikal Carter mural in the process of being painted on the 40-metre feature wall.
Council leisure assets planner Jason Pilkington said the mural would display the course of the Manawatu River through the Manawatu Gorge, past the Ashhurst Domain and Victoria Esplanade.
The Campbell St site was likely to be a useful stopover for people wanting to have their motorhomes serviced, and to make preparations for the next leg of their travels. A site near the river was definitely on the radar.
The Manawatu Riverside framework programme included money to investigate and develop an attractive site.
Palmerston North was granted motorhome friendly status in December 2017 after setting up a public dump station at Totara Rd, where self-contained motorhomes can get rid of grey water.