Holiday Parks masterplan a triumph

Published on 22 April 2021

The future for residents and tourists in the shire is much clearer following the adoption of a masterplan for the shires holiday parks that represented a successful compromise on the contentious issue of installing cabins in caravan locations.

At Tuesday’s ordinary meeting, Kempsey Shire Council adopted the Macleay Valley Coast Holiday Parks 10-year concept plans for Grassy Head, Stuarts Point and Hat Head Holiday Parks. Additionally, concept plans for Horseshoe Bay and Crescent Head Holiday Parks were adopted that had been put forward as alternatives to the original plans in response to community feedback.

These plans outline a vision for every aspect of the five Council operated holiday parks, providing a long-term strategy for improving all of the crown lands under Council management, a short-term solution for improving balance of equity between annual licence holders and other visitors as well as providing for the construction of cabins in the parks.

General Manager, Craig Milburn, welcomed the adoption of the plan for this vital Council service.

“Our Council has a vision to establish itself as a leading regional tourist destination creating a strong visitor economy. This can only happen through the development of iconic natural visitor attractions, driving growth in high-yield and environmentally sustainable tourism, and crucially meeting the demand for temporary accommodation.”

““If the holiday parks don’t make enough money to pay for our other Crown Reserves, we have to find those funds elsewhere. This plan is a significant step forward in our long-term mission to deliver prudent financial management for the shire and remove more of the burden from rate payers.”

Extensive engagement with licence holders, businesses, holiday park managers, visitors and the broader community was carried out in the lengthy process of drafting these plans, culminating in presentations by community members speaking for and against aspects of the recommended concept plans at Monday night’s Public Forum.

As a result of that community feedback, Council’s alternative plans for Crescent Head Holiday Park which remove any plan for installing oceanside cabins, and the Horseshoe Bay Holiday Park which remove any plan for cabins on the headland were adopted.

Kempsey Shire Mayor, Liz Campbell, described the result as a triumph for detailed staff planning, strong community engagement and considered, holistic thinking.

“It’s really important that we have a plan, but we can’t rush into taking the first option,” said Cr Campbell.

“There are economic and financial impacts to these plans. There are also social and community impacts. While it might be tempting to view the passionate discussion on this topic in a negative light, complex problems don’t always have simple solutions. We now

have a fantastic long-term plan based on compromise and discussion, the very foundations of good governance.”

The plans outline a fair and transparent roadmap for the rationalisation of the annual sites. The research for the strategy determined that while short-term tourist site rates increased by 44% over the past 5 years the rate for annual sites only increased by 14% during the same period.

In order to assist in bridging this gap, the plans propose that annual licence sites fees and charges are increased by 25% at Grassy Head, Stuarts Point, Hat Head and Crescent Head. An administration fee, inspection fee, removal fee and air conditioning fee are also proposed. In return, the plan increases the maximum number of nights per year that the annual sites can be inhabited from 150 to 180 nights. There will also be a staged reduction in the number of annual licence sites over the next ten years.

The proposed change in Annual Licence Fees and Charges will now be placed in the draft 2021-22 Fees and Charges document which goes on public exhibition this week.