After weeks of measurements being taken, van owners at Council’s Werri Beach and Seven Mile Beach Holiday Parks have been notified of the individual non-compliance issues associated with their holiday homes.

Most of the vans in both parks have compliance issues to varying degrees, brought to light across the state by the Government’s increased scrutiny of the regulations.

Some of these issues are minor, such as missing identification signage. Major remediation issues include separation distances and setbacks from the road, which owners have to address at their own expense – if the changes are physically possible.

Those vans where there is no way of achieving compliance have been told their vans need to be removed from the park by 1 May 2023.

“Most of the non-conformances are minor in nature but a few are major and require relocation of vans,” says a Council spokesperson.

Seven Mile Beach will have no net loss of van sites, but Werri Beach will have a net loss of 17 van sites.

Council is hopeful it can accommodate most of the van owners who wish to stay, through ballot spots, reassigning some spaces and creating new ones, but warns this process will take time.

Many of the vans have been in families for decades, with owners paying annual rates of $6000 a year.

Each owner's issues are unique

The Bugle spoke to a van owner who had come down to measure up the situation for himself after receiving notification he has to remove his van.

He was unimpressed with the letter from Council, feeling it raised more questions than it answered.

“We knew something was happening, but had no idea of the consequences,” he says.

“I’d like to see a picture of the new park layout. Noone has any idea of what they are trying to achieve.”

He has been told that his van needs to be three metres from the bowling club fence, when it is only 65cm, and one metre from the road. The distance from the fence to the road only nine metres, making compliance impossible for all of the vans in that section of the park.

Having just bought the van two years ago for $30,000, and having had to pay rates even when unable to use it during lockdown, he is bewildered by what has happened.

“They gave us a contract which we signed never imagining this would happen.”

In a FAQ prepared for van owners, Council gives the answer to the obvious question – Why was it OK for my van to be non-compliant up until now and now it’s not? – as:

“Compliance is required for each of Council’s holiday parks to maintain a licence to operate. Up until recently the regulatory requirements for compliance were not scrutinised as thoroughly as they are now – an issue experienced by holiday park operators all across the state.

“In order for the holiday park to obtain a licence to operate, all non-compliances must be identified, with a commitment to rectify. If not rectified the licence can be refused, meaning the holiday park will need to cease operating and all van owners will need to remove their van, annexe and associated structures from site.”

Van have up to nine months to rectify the identified issues. If they don’t meet compliance they will be given one months’ notice to remove the van and all structures from the site.

Mixed up in all this is good news for van owners on the north side of Werri Beach, who have been unable to sell or even transfer ownership of their van since Council announced major redevelopment plans years ago which have since been dropped. They will be able to sell their vans now, once they are compliant.

Council also has budgeted for the cost of its own compliance issues, with $3.8 million to be spent at its five holiday parks on issues such as road widening, amenities improvements, parking areas and fire hydrants.