End of the golden views for permanent campers

Permanent caravans at Mt Maunganui will have to pay higher fees from next March as well as have all permanent structures removed. Picture / Bay Of Plenty Times

Time is almost out for a group of campers who enjoy permanent million-dollar views at Mt Maunganui for $50 a week.

Families who have exclusive all-year-round access to caravan sites overlooking Mount Main Beach will have no guarantees in 18 months' time.

The Tauranga City Council has also ordered the 54 permanent caravans be stripped of all the home comforts that make them look more like baches than camp sites.

It is part of a drive to maximise profits from the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park - the old Domain Motor Camp - along the base of Mauao.

The "permanents" comprise nearly a quarter of the camp's 230 powered sites and the news they will be put on to one-year leases starting on March 1 has disappointed Helen Horne, of Morrinsville, who has holidayed there for 12 years.

Mrs Horne said she and the three other shareholding families were gutted by the news that nearly doubled their annual rental to $4800. "I have always loved the camping ground so this is a real pity. Some families have been coming here for 50 years."

Permanent structures to be removed include decks, trellises, fences, gardens, bench seats and electric wiring.

Mrs Horne hoped the council would consider the value of the income provided by the "permanents" during the quieter times of the year.

The annual rent entitled campers to 80 tariff-free days a year for two people, after which normal camp fees applied.

Mrs Horne was not surprised the council had increased rentals but she thought putting them on to a one-year lease and forcing people to remove all additions would be "an absolute shambles".

And she feared that if their site was opened to everyone, it would see dangerous backing manoeuvres beside a steep bank that dropped to camping sites below.

Council property manager Anthony Averill said about 12 of the 54 caravans were in the way of redevelopment plans that included cabins and motorhome sites. The owners would be given the option of taking alternative sites on the one-year lease. Caravan sites without a sea view will be charged $3900 a year.

Mr Averill said the changes had occurred because the council had taken over the camp's management. The previous management company had allowed long-stay customers to determine their own conditions of occupancy.

The permanent structures removed the ability to maximise income from the sites. In the high season from October to March, the camp turned away an average of six customers a day because an unoccupied caravan was "permanently" on a site - usually one of the better sites.

Mr Averill said the council wanted to look after its regulars and long-stay campers who did not want the new lease could still book their sites for the high season.

Occupancy and cashflows during the quieter times of the year would be taken into account when they considered whether to roll over the annual lease.

Councillor David Stewart said the time had come to put into effect a 1998 decision to abolish permanent structures. This had been a compromise for those who wanted the camping ground removed altogether.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES