Why two Gladstone councillors embarked on western ...

DEPUTY Mayor Kahn Goodluck and Councillor Darryl Branthwaite hit the road and headed west last weekend to attend an Inland Queensland Roads Action Project meeting.

Stopping along the way en route to Longreach and savouring what Central-Western Queensland has to offer, Cr Goodluck said it was a great trip.

"The Inland Queensland Road Action Project, an advocacy group, held an update meeting which included six RDAs, 28 local governments, RACQ and other organisations which are part of the group," he said.

"We have done a fair bit of planning about where we think the strategic priorities should lie as far as funding our inland roads.

"It is all about opening up the regional and rural areas, making sure we are getting the best bang for our buck in terms of economic development while upgrading roads."

The meeting was an opportunity to rub shoulders and network with mayors and councillors from other regions.

"The chair of the group is Mayor Eric (Rick) Britton from the Boulia Shire Council and the vice-chair was Mayor Jane McNamara from Flinders Shire Council," Cr Goodluck said.

"They were probably two key personnel on the IQRAP and have undertaken a lot of work."

Stops at Barcaldine to the Tree of Knowledge and the Qantas Museum in Longreach were highlights which will stick in the memory of Cr Goodluck.

"We stopped at Barcaldine, I had never been there before, and Cr Branthwaite and myself stopped at the Tree of Knowledge to check it out," he said.

"We saw the big Qantas Museum in Longreach which houses the last 747 in Australia which is actually pretty cool.

"We would have loved to head out to Winton and check out a few other places while we were here but, unfortunately, we haven't got time and have to head back."

Cr Goodluck said he would make it his mission to holiday with his family in Central-Western Queensland in the future.

"I am pretty certain I will be coming out here again at a later date with the family to explore these areas because they are cool," he said.