Time to Roam Magazine Issue 9 - June/July 2014 | Page 10

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upfront news

PARKS NEWS
Sale time for Tweed parks

Three Tweed region caravan parks have
recently sold for a total of $12.5 million.
Tweed Heads Heritage Caravan Park
at Chinderah went for $6 million to a
Sydney investor, while the adjoining
Chinderah Lakes Caravan Park sold
for $4 million to the same buyer.
The Royal Pacific Tourist Retreat and Caravan
Park in Chinderah was sold for $2.5 million.

Bridgewater reopens
Victoria’s Bridgewater Caravan Park
has re-opened after it was damaged
by floods three years ago.
Loddon Shire Council spent nearly $2m
redeveloping the park, situated on the
Calder Highway north west of Bendigo
Council manager John McLinden said the
park would bring a welcome economic boost
to the towns of Bridgewater and Inglewood.

SA park battle ends
One of Australia’s most contentious
caravan park redevelopments will now
go ahead after a Supreme Court judge
ruled permanent residents would have
to go to make way for improvements.
A group of about 40 long-term tenants of the
council-owned Brighton Caravan Park in the
southern Adelaide suburb of Kingston Park

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had been fighting for months to stay put.
They won support from diverse quarters
including the local Mayor, Senator Nick
Xenophon and “The Castle” actor Michael Caton.
The court supported the evictions, allowing
the park to be redeveloped to cater for
more tourists. The local mayor, who sided
with residents, now faces a backlash and
possible action from his fellow councilors.

Great Ocean Road Tourist
Park voted favourite
Victoria’s Great Ocean Road Tourist
Park has been voted the most
popular in Australia by users of a
prominent online booking site.
The park at Peterborough, 250km
southwest of Melbourne, topped a national
survey of more than 3000 people by
holiday parks website Turu.com.au.
In NSW, the most popular park was
BIG4 Easts Beach at Kiama, while in
Queensland, the Amity Point Park at
North Stradbroke topped the list.
Other winners were BIG4 Peppermint
Park in the Margaret River Region in WA,
Victor Harbor Beachfront Holiday Park in
SA, Ayers Rock Campground in NT and
Tasmania’s Port Arthur Holiday Park.
The BIG4 Forster-Tuncurry Great Lakes
Holiday Park in NSW was voted Australia’s
most popular pet-friendly park.

Discussion on Evans Head plans
A local council is calling a public
meeting to discuss plans to upgrade
one of NSW’s biggest holiday parks,
the Silver Sands at Evans Head.
North Coast Holiday parks has issued a draft
management plan that would result in big
improvements to the beach-front property, but
see more than 100 on-site vans removed.
The park is popular with residents of
northern NSW towns including Lismore
and Casino, with generations of families
coming back year after year.
Richmond Valley Mayor Ernie Bennett
fears the planned improvements could
make the park unaffordable for locals.

Cookin’ for a
cause at Kununurra
The Kimberley region sits at the top
of most grey nomad’s travel list and
it’s the time of year many head north.
Doing one better than the traditional
Happy Hour, the popular Discovery
Holiday Park at Lake Kununurra has
launched what it calls a “What’s Cookin”
session for three nights a week.
Managers Mark and Kathy Powell.
say Saturday is a sausage sizzle, on
Monday guests are treated to locally
caught Barramundi burgers, and
Wednesday is camp stew night.
“We’ve created a welcoming
environment where guests trade
stories of their travels and already
this season we’ve raised closed
to $10,000 for Care Flight.”

Lake Kununurra talent picnic