Maiden Gully caravan park sale leaves residents without a home

A letter sighted by the Bendigo Advertiser, which was dated for June 16, requested residents of the Avondel Caravan Park, located at 715-723 Calder Highway, Maiden Gully, to vacate on or before June 30.

According to the Residential Tenancies Act, if a caravan park closes or is to be used for another purpose, six months notice is required.

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The business was recently sold to new owners, with a transfer of property and business occurring on June 16.

The site has been subject to a planning bid for a Coles supermarket, which was knocked back by Greater Bendigo council in April.

Victorian Caravan Parks Association president David Pratt said giving 14 days notice was "abhorrent" and broke the law.

"I personally see this letter as flying in the face of all those regulations and every single caravan park that does the right thing," he said.

"In terms of our members, I won't tolerate any member not adhering to the true absolute requirement of the law.

"These are their homes. This is not a discretionary holiday that these people were having and to give what's essentially a 10 business day notice letter ahead of winter has terrified so many people.

"I don't believe any of them have been able to secure alternate permanent residency."

The Residential Tenancies Act is overseen by Consumers Affairs Victoria and a spokesperson said they had not received any contact about the caravan park business.

"Caravan and residential park residents are encouraged to know their rights and contact Consumer Affairs Victoria if they have any concerns about the closure of their park," they said.

According to the department, it is an offence for a caravan park owner not to give written notification to the relevant local council of the park's proposed closure at least 14 days before giving a notice to vacate to a resident.

City of Greater Bendigo environmental health co-ordinator Jason Barnes said the city received an application of transfer of the park from the new operators

However, the city did not receive formal notification from the previous operators of their intention to vacate the business and it had not received formal notification from the new operator of their intention to close the park.

The Bendigo Advertiser understands about 50 people have been living at the caravan park, some as old as 70 and some on disability pensions.

"I understand a number have been scared by this letter and left, but they've left to go to other parks who can't provide them with that permanent residency," Mr Pratt said.

According to Mr Pratt, 12,000 people call caravan parks their home across the state, and some parks have received up to 30 calls a week for more residents.

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Colin Johnston, manager at Gold Nugget Tourism Park at Epsom, said at least 10 people from the Avondel Caravan Park were temporarily staying at his facility.

"We are not a residential park ... what we're doing is giving these guys, I'd call it sanctuary, giving them time to sort themselves out and get their lives in order," he said.

"They're just looking for a place to live and basically somewhere to be able to call home."

The owners of the Avondel Caravan Park have been contacted for comment.

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