A decision to close Ōtorohanga’s caravan park and holiday camp on June 30 has come as news to some residents.
Ōtorohanga District Council said this week the lease expired a year ago, June 30, 2023. Chief executive Tanya Winter said the council had since confirmed that no new operating lease would be established for the camp in the immediate future.
Ōtorohanga Motor Camp
The Domain Drive park was given five months’ notice on in February.
Camp resident Peter Tredo, who has been at the camp “for a couple of years” said lease holder Tasha Smith put the notice on the camp noticeboard in late April.
Smith said via Facebook messenger campers were all told six months ago and she had been struggling with council to keep the camp open. She said the neighbouring Ōtorohanga Kiwi House wanted the land for a car park.
Tredo said residents knew Smith was seeking an extension to the lease, but were under the impression the lease was going to go to somebody else.
The camp has operated on a temporary basis since the formal lease expired on June 30, 2023.
The council is now embarking on the development of a Reserves Management Strategy for the Ōtorohanga Domain.
This decision (to close the camp) marked a transitional phase as the council focused on the holistic development and management of the Ōtorohanga Domain, a press release stated.
The camp is on Ōtorohanga Domain land which is designated a Recreation Reserve. According to regulations, the reserve land cannot be used for long-term accommodation.
“We understand this decision affects the long stay campers of the Ōtorohanga Caravan Park, and we’re sympathetic to their situation. However, it’s important for us to follow lease agreements and land use regulations” Mayor Max Baxter said.
Finding a place to move to has been difficult for residents who have been placing ads on face book housing groups local community groups, Tredo said.
He’s been looking as far as Thames, Pukekawa, Rangiriri.
“I’ve got my doctors here, my grandson’s here – they are getting ready to have another baby,” Tredo said.
But the numbers are thinning. There are about half a dozen campers left, mostly of retirement age.
