Let’s get behind Karratha’s new food truck scene at Searipple to make it a success

Time will tell, but at first glance, the City of Karratha’s new stallholder policy appears to strike a decent balance between protecting bricks-and-mortar businesses and giving the community what it loves. Those changes have further limited the number of food trucks operating at the once-favoured Dreamers Hill, but has allowed a substantial increase to available spots at Searipple carpark. Back in 2018, the Dreamers Hill’s food truck scene had fast become one of the best things about life in Karratha. It was a spot where every night you were guaranteed to run into people you knew to shoot the breeze with while waiting for a cheap feed from the ever-changing line-up of local and travelling food trucks. I absolutely loved it, and I know so many people in town felt the same way. At its height, I felt strongly the council and stallholders should formalise the area by having tables, lights and entertainment set up to really make it a must-visit attraction. So it was understandable that there was discontent when the City started to place restrictions on the practice as the new shopping centre opened up. On returning to the Pilbara this year, it immediately became evident Dreamers Hill was not what it used to be. There were just a handful of operators, it wasn’t as social, and trying to turn out of the space was even dicier than I remember. The Dreamers Hill food scene was perfect for the time, but there are food outlets in Nickol now that have made a substantial financial outlay and pay rates on those premises which have to be prioritised. Searipple is the place to be now and yes, I get driving what feels like a cross-country expedition (about six minutes) from Nickol is a tall order, but it still beats the big smoke. There’s a nice lookout nearby to sit and eat your tucker from too. So let’s get behind this and support the traders at Searipple to make it work. If it doesn’t, it can always come back to council for more changes.