‘I’m told I must be out in the next two weeks’
Holiday park residents claim eviction despite council denial
Long-term residents of a holiday park in Whakatāne say they are being kicked out of their homes and have nowhere to go because the council is reviewing occupancy rules.
But Whakatāne District Council denies anyone has been asked to leave and says it will work with those affected by the occupancy rule change.
The group of 30 residents, some of whom have been living at the park for five years, include the parents of a 4-year-old girl who say they are on a Kāinga Ora waiting list for a house.
Other residents said they had been given a few days’ notice to leave by camp managers.
Some said they would lose their jobs and social connections if they were forced to move out of town. The holiday park is the only one within the Whakatāne township and many do not have transport to move on.
Murray, who didn’t give his last name, said he had been living in a tent at the park with his partner and 4-year-old daughter for the past three weeks.
He said they were on a waiting list for a Kāinga Ora house but until they were placed they had nowhere else to go.
Murray said the family left their previous living situation because he was worried about his daughter’s wellbeing.
“I’ve been told that I have to be out in the next two weeks,” Murray claimed.
“I just want what’s best for my daughter. But where do we go? I don’t know where we are going to live.”
Residents of five years, Gillian Whittaker and Rose Briggs, said they had also been asked to go.
“We don’t know why we have been asked to leave, but we would like to stay if we can,” said Briggs, who has had trouble sleeping since receiving the news.
They plan to move to Athenree, where they know people.
They expect to leave in the next week and Whittaker says the move will cost her her job.
Rachel Brown has been living at the camp for three years and loves the “family” she has made there.
“It’s a really good community here,” she said.
“We help each other out with food, rent, transport. I would like to stay in Whakatāne to be close to my friends but there’s a housing shortage and there is nowhere to go, nowhere to rent.”
Pensioner Phillip Russel has been living at the park for the past six weeks and is now planning to go to the campground at Tirohanga, near Ōpōtiki. He has heard it has cheap rates over winter.
Once there, Russel is not sure how he will travel to get groceries, The bus he lives in is too large to park at a supermarket, while his only other form of transport is an electric scooter.
The Tirohanga campground is too isolated for this to be a viable transport option.
Russel said he had been told to leave by next week.
Kevin Skelly has been living at the park since last year’s lockdown and said he had no other options for accommodation.
“How do they expect us to find alternative accommodation in the current housing climate? At this time of year they aren’t going to be having anyone else staying.
“If I were a ratepayer, I would prefer to have someone staying for some kind of income.”
Another resident, Alana Glatter, who has been living in tents at the park for two months, said she returned from a weekend away in Tauranga to be told she had to leave immediately.
“I was so shocked. I just about fainted,” she said.
“How am I supposed to find somewhere to go with so little notice?”
She was able to pay for another week so has until then to leave.
Some of the residents say they were also being asked to leave the holiday park as they had stayed longer than the 50 days allowed under the 1985 Camping Grounds Regulations.
However, council general manager community experience Georgina Fletcher said that was a misunderstanding and council staff would be speaking to each guest during the next few days to discuss an appropriate way forward for them.
Whakatāne District Council purchased the holiday park in 2017 as a strategic tourism asset to support future predicted growth in the tourism industry.
Since then, Fletcher said, the council had invested in improving the standard of facilities and services at the holiday park and patronage had been steadily climbing, exceeding predictions.
“The Whakatāne Holiday Park has become an affordable and popular holiday choice for the many holidaymakers taking the opportunity for domestic travel in the current Covid-19 climate,” she said.
“Campgrounds across Aotearoa encounter challenges with the use of campgrounds for semi or permanent living. As such, the Government has a set of rules around the use of campgrounds that provide for the health and safety of those using them.
“The 1985 Camping Grounds Regulations state that occupants must vacate a campground after 50 days. Conditions about the length of stay and return period within that guideline can be determined by campground owner/operators.”
Fletcher said staff were revising the holiday park conditions of occupancy with regards to its purpose as a destination tourism opportunity.
“Once the conditions of occupancy have been finalised, these will be communicated directly with those who may be affected,” she said.
“Council and holiday park staff have been talking to those within the campground who have no obvious alternative accommodation options and talking with agencies to find solutions.
“Council is painfully aware of the need for social housing. It is a community problem that requires a community approach,” she said.
“No action has been taken by holiday park management to ask occupants to vacate. However, management have been ensuring the usual conditions of occupancy such as payment of fees, and an upto-date electrical warrant of fitness to safely connect to the Holiday Park power supply.”