Regular visitors to a popular holiday park are lamenting the ‘loss’ of their sites, after they were unable to adjust their bookings amid family heartbreak.
Established summer vacationists at the Cotton Tree Holiday Park failed to negotiate new arrangements with the managers of the Sunshine Coast Council-operated park, despite their difficult circumstances.
But a council spokesperson said there were necessary standard booking procedures, before adding that it will review length-of-stay conditions in coming months.
Richelle Anderson said her family had holidayed at the park at Christmas for decades and they were able to re-book 12 months in advance each time.
But she said they were “basically made to give up the site” after they could not commit to the minimum six-week staying period last time.
“We have had the same site for around 25 years,” she said.
“But my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer in September, had surgery and was receiving treatment.
“As he was going through treatment for the Christmas break, I asked the new manager if we could change our site from a six-week site to a three-week site to fit in with his radiation and chemo.
“It was also a costly matter. My parents were now up for medical fees and could simply not afford the full six weeks.
“(But) I was told that I would not be able to reduce the number of weeks on our particular site.”
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb
She said she was also told that if she wanted a three or four week site (which is generally not over Christmas) she “would need to line up like everyone else did during the year”.
Ms Anderson said there were significant costs to hire a caravan and stay for six weeks.
“Can you think of any family in a cost-of-living crisis that could afford nearly $10,000 just to stay in a caravan park?” she said.
Ms Anderson said their deposit, paid 12 months in advance, was returned but that was not much consolation.
“My dad absolutely loved being there. He had created many lifelong friends in the park,” she said.
“My aunty is on the same street (in the park) and my brother and his family and my sister and her family also have spots in the park at the same time.
“This is not just a holiday for us, it’s family and community.”
She said it was almost impossible to book a site around Christmas if you weren’t a regular.
“It can be very difficult to secure a yearly spot at the park due to its popularity,” she said.
“When people are after a spot, they line up on one day of the year to try and get something. Some people line up the night before it’s so popular.”
Meanwhile, Marcoola’s Murray Stewart said his sister-in-law failed in her request to essentially skip a year, after her husband died of cancer, and was told the booking would be lost.
“The family has been coming to Cotton Tree for over 10 years and she rang the park and asked if they could miss this year, as it was too much for her, and she said they would be back next year,” he said.
“But she said she was told that the booking is in his name and not hers, so the booking will not be kept, but they could give her the deposit back.
“Extremely poor from the park management and poor from the council.
“I have been told there is new management … they seem to have gone overboard with the way they treat people.”
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson explained the booking process and said it would reassess stay duration options, particularly for Christmas and Easter.
“For the past few years, the park has had a minimum length of stay of six weeks at Christmas time. The park is in high demand during peak times and bookings are tightly held,” they said.
“We will be reviewing the length-of-stay conditions in the coming months.”
They said sites must be occupied by the people who booked them.
“To satisfy the terms of our insurance and evacuation procedures, we need to ensure the person staying on the site is the person that holds the booking,” they said.
“If a person is no longer able to use the booked site, the site is released back into the available pool for others to book.”
The spokesperson confirmed that regular booking holders had priority but if they could not stay for the allocated time, then the site would be made available to others.
“This has been a standing practice. As a courtesy to regular guests, we offer them the first right of refusal for the site that they occupy during the peak time. If a guest can no longer use the booking it is released back in to the letting pool,” they said.
“This has been the case for many years, if they are able to comply with the minimum length of stay.
“If they are unable to use the minimum length of stay, we ask them to release the booking for others to be able to use the site.”
They also said that the deposit process had recently changed.
“We were holding bookings with a $30 deposit, 1 per cent of the total cost of many bookings,” the spokesperson said.
“We have now changed to charging for the first week of the stay, to ensure the bookings (are) being upheld.
“The booking process changed as bookings were being secured for a $30 deposit and in some instances the people would not turn up after holding the booking for many months.”
Cotton Tree Holiday Park is one of six parks under the Sunshine Coast Holiday Parks banner, but the spokesperson said bookings processes were not the same at each.
“We do have different managers at each park (and) the park managers do have the ability to make operational decisions, so the bookings and deposit process may be slightly different for each park,” they said.
People can book up to 12 months in advance.
There is a six-week minimum length of stay at Cotton Tree at Christmas and a three-week minimum length of stay at other council-operated parks.
People can stay for less time outside the Christmas period.
There are varying costs, depending on the time of year and location of the site.
“Sunshine Coast Holiday Parks are located in great locations and generally offer very affordable holidays,” the spokesperson said.
Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our FREE daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email at the bottom of this article.
