RAA makes a road trip to Murray Bridge

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As part of RAA’s 2023 regional roadshow, RAA staff have come to Murray Bridge to hear the ideas, concerns and compliments of their long-term regional members.

Last Thursday’s event at the Bridgeport Hotel had almost 200 attendees, who each received an RAA showbag and were eager to share their opinions and questions.

The RAA panel consisted of RAA president and chair Peter Sebels, CEO Nick Reade and community and corporate affairs general manager Emily Perry.

The RAA invited people who’ve been members for 50-plus years – and one attendee had been a member for 75 years.

Some of the questions for the panel included whether 50-plus members could receive membership discounts, when car lights being on 24/7 would become mandatory and whether members could receive high-vis vests to keep in the back of their cars for an emergency.

At the end of the session, the RAA announced that they were giving out 100 high-vis vests to attendees.

One of the 50-plus members was Barry Pfeiffer, a beef, sheep and hay farmer from Long Flat, who described the RAA as a “good mob”.

“I’ve always respected the RAA,” he said.

“They do work on the roads and give good discounts on Repco and tyre companies.

Mr Pfeiffer also appreciated the free vest.

“Being a farmer, we wear high-vis vests, so it will come in handy.”

Another attendee, Wally Venner, has been an RAA member since 1957 and attended the session to learn more about the latest RAA activities.

“I just want to keep up with the RAA,” he said.

RAA CEO Nick Reade said that some of the feedback they received from the roadshow at Murray Bridge was consistent with what they’d received in the South East roadshow sessions.

“Some of the road issues – cars and road safety – we need to look at those sort of things,” he said.

“And we’re not the controller of the chequebook, but we are strong influencers, having 800,000 members: the Government tend to listen.

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“Beyond those issues, there were a couple raised today that were quite acute: some of the membership questions – things we could do a bit differently.

“There was some feedback about Trade Assist, one of the services we offer where we bring plumbers and electricians out to homes.

“And a couple of questions about more availability in this region, so we’ll take that on board.

“We also had some positive feedback: We are a good, service-focused organisation and well trusted.”

David and Rachel Baldwyn, who run Murray Bridge’s Bridge Motors, were also at the roadshow, and Ms Baldwyn spoke about Bridge Motor’s role in working with the RAA.

“The RAA’s connected to depots, and we get the call-outs, so you have to have a properly running garage to take the vehicles back to … or we’ll take them elsewhere, whatever the customer wants – even take them all the way home in a tow truck.

RAA motors to Monarto and launches electric vehicle charging site

Meanwhile, RAA officials also visited Monarto Safari Park, where they rolled out the RAA Charge network’s newest electric vehicle charging site.

The new seven-kilowatt destination-speed charging site at Monarto, consisting of four RAA EV charging units, will allow EV drivers to charge their EV in the carpark while exploring Monarto Safari Park.

CEO Nick Reade said the RAA was excited about continuing the rollout of the RAA Charge network into regional SA.

“Once complete in 2024, the network will comprise 140 charging sites spanning from Mount Gambier to the Border Village, right up to Marla in the north and all the regional and remote town ins between,” he said.

“The RAA Charge network will help to open up all areas of our great state to electric vehicle drivers, making range anxiety a thing of the past and ensuring they can easily get to and from attractions like the Monarto Safari Park.”

Murray Bridge currently has EV charging stations at the local government centre at 2 Seventh Street and a Chargefox charging station at 23 Mary Terrace; Tailem Bend has a charging station at the Tasco Ampol roadhouse.