Key points:
- Robe’s major fuel supplier closed midway through 2022
- The council maintains there will be enough fuel to service the thousands of visitors over the summer period
- A temporary diesel fuel site will open to the public on council land before Christmas
Authorities insist Robe will have enough fuel pumps to service an influx of tourists over summer, despite the closure of the town’s last remaining dedicated service station.
The Caltex on Main Road in Robe, on South Australia’s south-east coast, closed in the middle of 2022, leaving one option for fuel in the town at a local shop —Robe Auto and Marine.
The shop has six bowsers: two premium unleaded pumps, two regular unleaded, and two diesel.
One pump will be accessible 24 hours a day with a pay-at-the-pump service, while the owner of Robe Auto and Marine will extend the store’s hours so it opens at 6am and closes at 8pm.
But the town’s population is expected to swell from 1,500 to 15,000 people over the festive period.
Robe District Council chief executive James Holyman said the council was helping another fuel supplier, K&S, to set up in town.
“But it will only sell diesel fuel,” Mr Holyman said.
He said 70 per cent of fuel purchases in the town were diesel.
New pumps to open soon
The new diesel pumps will likely be open for use by Christmas and will be located at the industrial end of Robe within the council’s depot site.
“It will assist in taking a load off,” he said.
“That will service both council equipment and the community and there will be two bowsers that go in there, so they’ll have four nozzles available, all diesel.”
Mr Holyman said he wanted visitors to be aware of the other petrol option, so motorists would not queue in front of Robe Auto and Marine.
“What we’re mainly concerned about is the main street into town … we can’t afford to have that blocked, so we want people to be aware of the options for fuel,” he said.
“Our residential population in the last census was only 1,500 so it is a large jump within this community from 1,500 to 15,000 [during summer].”
Extracted from ABC