Yatesy’s Mobile Metro: Shire Man Converts Caravan into Roving Petrol Station, With Greensleeves on Loudspeaker.

Sandy Shores | Editor in Chief | Sutherland Shire Gazette

9 May 2025

SUTHERLAND SHIRE - As petrol prices continue to surge and local drivers risk entire tanks hunting for a bargain, one enterprising Shire resident has taken matters into his own jerry cans.

Graham Yates of Gymea has retrofitted a 2000-litre tank to an old caravan chassis, creating the Shire’s first mobile servo - complete with Greensleeves on loudspeaker, a laminated price board, and a commitment to “beating whatever Coles Express is doing by 15 cents.”

“I just got sick of the theatre of it all,” said Yates, as he poured unleaded from a garden hose into a Mazda 3. “People out here are burning half a tank chasing five cents off. I thought, stuff it, I’ll bring the Metro to them.”

Yatesy’s Mobile Metro has already been spotted in hotspots including Kirrawee Bunnings, Engadine Maccas and outside Westfield Miranda’s rooftop carpark - though the latter ended in a small queue, a large fine, and one mum demanding he accept Flybuys.

Locals are divided. “It's genius,” said one Cronulla man, clutching a lukewarm sausage roll and a half-tank receipt. “He’s the Shell of the people.”

But others are more cautious. “I’m all for DIY,” said a concerned Oyster Bay resident. “But the jerry can strapped to the roof with a bungee cord gave me mild anxiety.”

Council has yet to respond, but insiders say a motion has been lodged to regulate “unauthorised servo ice-cream hybrids.”

Meanwhile, Yates remains unbothered: “If I can save the Shire five cents a litre and bring back the joy of a van playing Greensleeves, then I’ve done my job.”

Petrol Station