Rodney Stevens

Many of the up to 200 joint owners of holiday caravans at Council owned van parks at Brooms Head, Iluka, Minnie Water, and Wooli, some who have had their vans for decades on the same site are outraged, claiming they will be evicted on June 30.

Last week letters were sent to owners of holiday caravans at Brooms Head, Iluka, Minnie Water and Wooli Holiday Parks, advising of the termination of long term (casual occupation) agreements, sparking outrage amongst those impacted.

Within the Clarence Valley Holiday Parks the following number of holiday vans at each park will be impacted:

Brooms Head – 20

Iluka – 28

Minnie Water – 57

Wooli – 31

The CV Independent was contacted by several caravan owners who expressed their frustration at the situation.

One caravan owner claimed Council was bullying old people.

“We now have been told we will all get a notice to REMOVE or DEMOLISH all our site’s buildings by 30th June,” she said in an email to the CV Independent. 

“This means we are not just being denied the right to sell our vans and annexes, we are having our leases terminated and being kicked out altogether. 

“This is an absolute nightmare.

“The Council is bullying about 200 mostly old people.”

Judy Wainright posted on Facebook “Removing another 136 sites that have paid for their van, paid a weekly fee, and now they have to pay for removal. That’s a large amount of revenue going to be lost by CVC. They are throwing away a guaranteed weekly fee in the hope these sites will be used. Maybe CVC might have to take a pay cut.”

The move comes after Clarence Valley Council recently announced that 34 sites at the Brooms Head Holiday Park would be returned to the community, angering locals who had used the same site for up to 5 decades.

After the Extraordinary Council meeting on March 14, the CV Independent asked Mayor Ray Smith about the situation with holiday caravans in Council owned caravan parks.

Cr Smith said staff were acting according to NSW Government legislation.

The NSW Holiday Parks (Long-term Casual Occupation) Act 2002 No 88 states:

19. Park owner or occupant may terminate agreement when fixed term ends.

If an occupation agreement creates an occupancy for a fixed term and the fixed term ends, the park owner or the occupant may terminate the occupation agreement in accordance with the terms of the agreement relating to termination.

20. Continuation of fixed term agreements if park owner or occupant does not terminate.

(1)  This section applies if—

(a)  an occupation agreement creates an occupancy for a fixed term, and

(b)  the occupation agreement has no provision in it for continuation after the fixed term ends, and

(c)  neither the park owner nor the occupant has terminated the occupation agreement when the fixed term ends.

(2)  An occupation agreement to which this section applies is to continue to apply on the same terms as those applying immediately before the day on which the fixed term ends, other than the term that set the fixed term for the agreement and the term fixing the amount of the occupation fee.

(3)  The occupation agreement continues on the basis that the occupant is holding over under a periodic occupancy, that is, on the basis that the occupation fee is paid and accepted at regular fixed intervals and the occupancy of the occupant continues indefinitely from one period to the next until terminated by notice equal to the length of the applicable period.

In a statement, Council said under a long term (casual occupation) agreement, holders are permitted to use the site for up to 180 days per year, meaning that for the other six months of the year they sit vacant and unable to be used by other visitors.

Casual holiday vans are not primary places of residence.  

Clarence Valley Council, General Manager, Laura Black said that the demand from visitors for tourist sites has grown significantly over the last decade.

“These sites are on public land and it’s important that all visitors to the Holiday Parks have the same opportunity to use these sites when holidaying with their families and friends,” she said.

“We’ve been able to accommodate casual agreements for some time but with greater demand, we have made the decision to return these sites for all to use.”

“We are not ‘evicting’ residents, these are casual agreements and cannot be used as a permanent residence.

“All users are required to have a primary place of residence elsewhere offsite.” 

Council is working closely with holiday park managers and holders of casual agreements, providing 110 days’ notice to terminate agreements and waiving all rental fees from 13 March to 30 June.

Under the Act only 90 days’ notice is required.

“Some of these agreements have been in place for many years, and we realise that people may be disappointed or upset by this decision,” Ms Black said.

“Council is taking steps to assist holders of casual agreements by increasing the notice period by 20 days, waiving fees while still occupying these sites and has offered to assist with removal of any semi-permanent structures that users don’t wish to take with them.”

Council welcomes all users of casual agreements to continue using their Parks, under the same booking terms and access as all other visitors.