CHALLENGE

Turning Feilding Holiday Park around

It only takes a quick glance at the online reviews of Feilding Holiday Park to realise the magnitude of the challenge its new owners have taken on.

Luke and Hayley Groombridge took charge of the business in December and have been pouring their time into getting the poorly maintained park back up to scratch.

The first couple of cabins have already been upgraded and hiring daily cleaners has made a big difference.

‘‘We have started renovating the cabins and the bunk rooms and the plan is just to get them to a much nicer state. They had not had anything done to them for about 10 years. It was about time that they had a bit of a freshen-up,’’ Hayley Groombridge said.

But regardless of their work, the biggest challenge may be overcoming the past online reviews on websites such as Trip Advisor and Happy Camping, advising others to stay away. It has a Trip Advisor rating of 11⁄2 stars.

Groombridge hoped their new guests would recognise the changes and start changing the trend of the ratings.

‘‘I think a lot of the campervan and motorhome clubs have been put off this place. It is just a challenge for us to build up our reputation again and making it a nice friendly place for them to come to again.’’

They said with the many events at Manfeild Park and plenty of school groups visiting the region, the holiday park had plenty of potential guests to attract.

Some reviews complained about the permanent residents at the site so Groombridge said they had reduced how many lived there.

There were also planning to remove some of the trees, which are up to 20 metres high and meant the park stayed very damp in the winter.

But all their work at the park is on the side of their fulltime jobs, with Luke working as an electrician and Hayley running a jewellery store. The couple said they would live on-site for while they got through the bulk of the work.

They have already hired a fulltime maintenance worker, who will run the park when they move out.

Groombridge expected the upgrades to be completed in the next six months.

Hayley and Luke Groombridge, holding son Knox, are getting the Feilding Holiday Park back up to standard.