WITH at least four caravan parks in the Peel region closing down in the past 10 years, and a handful of others earmarked to go, the question begs if there will be any affordable family accommodation in years to come.
Caravan Industry Association WA chief executive Pat Strahan said there were currently 18 caravan parks in the Peel region, but there was a need for another tourist park in the Mandurah area.
She said more land needed to be zoned for caravan parks, but there was still plenty of affordable accommodation in Mandurah.
“During the Christmas and New Year period the parks are always full, but throughout the rest of the year there’s space,” Ms Strahan said.
She said there were proposed caravan sites at Fairbridge and Point Grey.
While caravan parks including The Peninsula, Yalgorup Eco Park, Estuary Caravan Park and Preston Beach have all closed business, the Estuary Hideaway Holiday Park in Bouvard has recently launched a new and improved caravan, cabin and tenting facility.
Formerly Estuary Hideaway Cabins, the waterfront park has replaced its old cabins with six new ones which people can purchase as holiday homes.
Owners Debbie and Paul Lance agree their five acres of land is valuable, but said it was important to retain family caravan parks in the area.
“We have always loved caravanning with the family,” Debbie said.
“The decision (to keep the land as a caravan park) wasn’t hard.
“Travelling and holidaying with the family is very important and we are passionate about that.”
The park has been open for about 50 years on the Old Coast Road and the Lances have owned it for close to seven years.
They say it has a natural look and a relaxed, country atmosphere.
It took them four long, hard years to get approvals and permits to redevelop the park, and they have even spent $200,000 on a new turn off from the main road into the site.
The family park is licensed to accommodate 50 sites including caravans and tents for transit holidays and cabins.
The new and ongoing upgrades include a new ablution block, sewer system, tennis courts, laundry and children’s play area.
The Lances aim at catering for groups, families and couples looking at caravanning and tenting, and said councils need to support caravan parks if they want them to remain open.
At the other end of the scale is the Lucky Caravan Park on Henson Street in Silver Sands, which is due to be shut down next year to make way for an extensive mixed land use development.
At a full Mandurah City Council meeting on November 24, councillors voted to release the plan for the site for public comment.
The development encompasses the neighbouring vacant lot on Mandurah Terrace opposite the Silver Sands shopping area.
The proposed development is part of the Mandurah Terrace Precinct Plan and includes a four-storey commercial building fronting the intersection of Henson Street and Mandurah Terrace with retail and office spaces and a function/conference centre.
Also proposed for the site is a 12-storey residential apartment tower which could house up to 180 apartments, and a four-storey tourism development with a minimum of 80 short stay apartments, a café and a restaurant – all 200m from the beach.
The Lucky Caravan Park has operated in Mandurah for more than 25 years and has been owned by the company Luteum since 1984.
Landowners/business directors Dato SK Lim and Andrew Kwa met with the Mail to discuss the future vision for the site.
“We have been planning and working with Council for two years on this plan,” Mr Kwa said.
He said the development would create many jobs in Mandurah and the proposed exhibition centre would also create employment.
He said the plans showed 88 fully serviced, short stay rooms, more than 500 car parking bays over two levels of basement parking and 160 residential apartments.
Mr Lim and Mr Kwa said traffic and shadow reports had been completed for the site and the plan followed strict planning guidelines.
The men acknowledged there were permanent residents at the caravan park that would be affected by the closure, but were keen to treat them fairly and have given them more than six months’ notice about the future plans.
“We were going to close the park a few years ago but we extended because of the people living here,” Mr Lim said.
Park manager Sharon Butcher said there were 15 permanent residents who owned their vans and 10 permanent renters, most of who have been officially notified of the park’s closure in 2010.
“They have been notified, they knew about the application to council and many have been expecting it,” Mr Kwa said.
“It is not much different to renting a house.”
Ms Butcher is helping the permanent residents relocate to other caravan parks and has also spoken to the Department of Housing and requested their assistance.
The park’s daily charges are $22 per couple or $32 for a family of four for one of its 12 tent sites and $25 per couple for a powered caravan site, which could be seen as an affordable alternative to staying in a hotel.
The development plan will be advertised from next week and will close on January 8.
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