‘We just want our caravans up and running again’: Caravan owners tell community council of disarray at Golspie park
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A seaside caravan park in Sutherland has been plunged into disarray since it was sold last December after years of single ownership, it is claimed.
Owners of static caravans at the recently renamed Golden Links Caravan Park on Ferry Road, Golspie, are unable to use them because the site currently has no licence and there are problems with the electricity and water supply.
They also say they are out of contract, have received no written communication from the new owners and that the caravan park has been put up for auction several times in recent weeks only to be withdrawn from sale.
It is understood that a third of the 60 or so static caravans on the once popular site, which is prone to flooding, have now been removed
Caravanners Roger and Rachel Cullen, from Devon, Denise Brown, Ardgay and Linda Morad-Tehrani attended a meeting of Golspie Community Council on Monday to highlight their plight.
Ms Brown said after the meeting: “We just want our caravans up and running again and our lives back to normal.”
The Golspie Links Caravan Site was sold for £200,000 last December by Neil and Shona Morrison who had owned it for 25 years.
It is now owned by a newly formed company, Golden Links Caravan Park Ltd, whose company director and sole shareholder is listed as Lorna MacAskill.
The Northern Times attempted to contact her this week.
Mr Cullen told the community council: “The many queries caravan owners had were for the most part left unanswered. Three months after the initial purchase, the site owner announced via Facebook the site would be put up for sale.
“Since then the site has been advertised for online auction with Future Property Auctions for varying and increasing prices, from £440,000 to £594,00….. The site remains unsold despite online bids of up to £540,000.”
Mr Cullen said caravan owners were concerned that the site owners appeared to be trying to separate and retain part of the site between the caravans and the seafront.
He added that the caravan owners were asking for electricity and water to be reconnected for a fair pitch agreement with reasonable site fees and protection against eviction if the site was sold; and for the site to be retained as a single parcel of land with investment made in flood protection.
Community council chairperson Henrietta Marriott said: “Because it is privately owned, the community council cannot get involved between the caravan owners and the site owners. We will do what we can to support you but at the end of the day it is a commercial venture.”
East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillor, Richard Gale, who attended the meeting, said: “I have already asked Highland Council planners to look at the planning permission granted at the time of the first application for the site.
“Someone has brought to my attention that they are talking about touring caravans but that was ruled out when planning permission was granted in the first place. It is meant to be a static site.
“All we can do from a council perspective is to make sure the site complies with the rules and regulations. I will make sure that all the conditions are as they should be and I will feed that back to you.”
Peter Heske, caretaker at the caravan site, said the new owners were inexperienced in running caravan sites and had invested significantly into the site since taking it over, but had faced a number of setbacks including flooding and vandalism with gates broken and sand being put into diggers .
“The reason we are not able to open the site is because we were not aware that we had to get our own licence. We got a visit from Highland Council who said we could not use the previous operator’s licence and we are in the process of applying for it,” he said
Mr Heske added that the site had been withdrawn from an auction sale because caravan owners were unhappy with the potential buyer’s plan to create a chalet park.
He said the majority of caravan owners were happy with the situation and it was only a minority who were complaining.
“We want to be accommodating and get on with people but we need a bit of respect,” he said.
