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Regulator opens new depot in Sunshine Coast tourist hotspot

Veteran Sunshine Coast truckie Niell Graham had to look twice at the sign out front to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

Right in the heart of some of the Sunshine Coast’s most expensive tourist real estate – just 700m from the popular Maroochydore Beach – the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has opened a new office.

Most of the trucks you see in this area are the ones servicing the nearby giant Sunshine Plaza mall and the many cafes frequented by cashed-up downsizers who retire to pricy waterfront homes in their droves from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.

The nearest Bruce Highway on-ramp is 11km away, with scores of cheaper rental options for an enforcement base amongst commercial and industrial parks en route.

“That’s a stupid place to put it,” Graham said of the regulator’s new Memorial Avenue address in the swanky suburb of Cotton Tree.

“They should be over in the Queensland transport office in Kelly Court off of Wises Road. That’s where you have to take a truck for a roadworthy.

“Good luck getting a park over in Cotton Tree at the best of times. You wouldn’t want to go anywhere near Cotton Tree in a semi.

“If they want to be the transport regulator, they should be somewhere accessible to all trucks, even in a B-double.”

The new office (marked by red pin) is surrounded by cafes and expensive holiday real estate, just 700m from the surf. Image: Google Maps

An NHVR spokesperson told Big Rigs that the Maroochydore location – a former district office for the RSL – was chosen to to “retain an operational home base in close proximity to the Maroochydore Transport and Main Roads Customer Service Centre, to support transitioning staff from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and strengthen a collaborative approach to the regulatory landscape in southeast Queensland”.

The NHVR said the office has 10 permanent employees from its operations and on-roads division with a key focus on the Bruce Highway between Burpengary and Maryborough, which has been identified as a “high-risk” section of road.

“We also have NHVR teams including Investigations, Prosecutions, Access, Workplace Health and Safety and Human Resources who frequent the site on an as-needs basis.

“The office is purposefully located within easy access to the highway, heavy industry hubs and the local inspection centre.”

The depot houses 10 full-time staff from the operations and on-roads division. Image: Prime Creative Media

While the NHVR provides programmed vehicle inspections (PVIs) in Queensland on behalf of TMR, customers may continue to book PVIs (excluding fleet bookings) through the existing TMR channel.

“The NHVR and TMR determined a shared location would be unsuitable given each organisation delivers different industry service requirements and TMR requires their office to be customer-facing.”

Th NHVR assumed responsibility for the delivery of heavy vehicle on-road compliance and enforcement services in Queensland, including PVIs, from April 20, 2024.

The takeover in April of all heavy vehicle regulatory services in Queensland contributed to a $5 million dip in the regulator’s total surplus for the last financial year.

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