Park revamp proves financial winner

The installation of hard sites to ensure larger caravans and mobile homes can be catered for in wet winter months has taken the rebirth of Masterton's Mawley Park a step further.

Limestone, which will pack down like concrete, has been used as the floor for the new powered sites but each will have an adjacent grassed area so caravanners can erect an awning if they want to.

The hard sites are just the latest addition to the makeover of Mawley Park, which to all intents and purposes has moved on from an often-criticised, rundown holiday park to an asset now considered a jewel in the Masterton District Council's crown.

Apart from the hard sites, the holiday park has undergone an accommodation transformation with the once spartan cabins madeover and four en-suite cabins built, a new kitchen, dining room, office and manager's residence.

This has been in tandem with an effort to improve the grounds, with trees and shrubs including native seedlings planted, and all buildings painted and otherwise spruced up.

As a result, the park has begun to throw off its reputation as a basic amenity and, say managers Rodney and Jelena Algie, is going from strength-to-strength in visitor numbers and, therefore, financially.

Mr Algie said yesterday the building of a barbecue area was on the agenda and that the mantra was to achieve excellence in everything, particularly in the grooming of the grounds and overall cleanliness.

He said apart from the four en-suite cabins, the park had 12 cabins, 50 powered sites and 100 tent sites.

Patronage was steadily increasing, with caravan clubs arriving en masse and bookings for long weekends, in particular, from throughout New Zealand and overseas.

One indicator of increased family use had been seen at Easter.

"We started an Easter-egg hunt for the kids and each year it is getter bigger and bigger. What we are trying to do is to bring back all the old family values, that's really what camping is all about," he said.

Masterton Mayor Garry Daniell said the council had been faced with a dilemma through its responsibilities to the terms of the original Mawley bequest and the state in which the park had found itself in.

"But we bit the bullet and voted to refurbish the caravan park and we have been absolutely delighted with the result," Mr Daniell said.

Patronage had improved far beyond expectations, with the caravan-park finances in the black, and he congratulated Mr and Mrs Algie: "They have encouraged visitors to come, and to explore Wairarapa while they are here and these people are coming back for further stays."

The plan to refurbish Mawley Park ran into criticism when the newly elected Masterton District Council met in late 2010, with councillor Gary Caffell in particular being sceptical about the value of voting $1.2 million to the project, topped up with another $600,000 in the next year's budget.