’VAN OWNERS FACE NEW SCRAP RULE
Distraught owners of static caravans face having to scrap them because of new rules introduced by site owners.
Management at the Fantasy Island complex on the Lincolnshire coast have decreed that all caravans more than 22 years old will have to go by March 2022, whatever their condition.
One victim of the new policy is Naomi Wilson, who has only just bought her caravan at the Fantasy Island Sunnymede site for £12,000.
“I bought it on July 10 and checked at the time that there was no age restriction policy,” she said.
“Then just nine weeks later they introduced this.
“It would make sense if they wanted to scrap caravans that were in a bad condition but mine is in great condition.”
An owner on the neighbouring Eastgate site has a 1996 model that he bought from Fantasy Island for £8,000 in 2014.
“Come the 2022 deadline it will have to be off the site,” said Richard Hallam.
“It’s disgusting. That caravan is immaculate.
“We paid £1,500 for a veranda, it’s got new double-glazed doors and windows, and every year we have it cleaned inside and washed and waxed outside.
Declan Slater asked Fantasy Island if it would buy back the £8,000 caravan that he bought from them only last year because it’s a 1997 model that will fall foul of the age restriction rule.
“They offered me just £300 for it,” he said.
Another owner, who only wanted to be identified by her first name Claire, paid £15,000 last year for a 2004 model.
“We’ve only got six years then it will have to be scrapped,” she said. “A lot of hard work and love has gone into making it our home, not just a caravan. We feel like we’ve just thrown this money away.”
Fantasy Island is owned by Mellors Group Fantasy Island Holdings Limited and one director, 40-year-old Edward Mellors, sits on the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, advising the Government on how to get the leisure sector up and running during the pandemic.
I’ve asked the firm to comment without success, but the local Lincolnshire Live news website quotes an earlier statement from the company justifying the age limit policy, saying it’s “to help improve the overall quality of the parks and the caravans that are on them”.