Cullen Bay Holiday Park owners to waive site fees for Lossiemouth Bay caravanners
A FAMILY run holiday park company is offering to waive pitch fees for caravan owners who have left the Lossiemouth Bay Caravan Park.
Caravan owners at the Lossiemouth park allege that they have been told to 'upgrade or get out' following the end of their licence agreement by Park Holidays UK who took over the site in April this year.
Some long-time caravanners on the site have already left, claiming that the price for a new caravan quoted by the holiday firm is too expensive.
Now, Culligan Parks Limited, which owns caravan sites in Dunoon and Cullen, is offering to waive this year's site fees as well as the fee to buy a pitch on the Cullen park for those who have moved from Lossiemouth Bay.
Sandra Bell, who manages both the Dunoon and Cullen parks for the company, convinced the firm's owners to waive the fees after being left "disgusted" by the situation.
"We just think that this is harming the caravan site industry so we want to show that not every company is like that," Ms Bell said.
"If people hear all these horror stories about caravans it will affect our business as well so we want people to know that they can go to a caravan park and relax.
"I spoke to the owners a couple of weeks back and I said that we needed to do something about this and they agreed.
"So we're basically waiving this year's site fees for those coming from Lossie and we're also waiving the fee you would normally spend to buy a pitch on our site.
"All in all, we're waiving about £8000 but we're just thankful that we can offer some help."
Three caravan owners from Lossiemouth have already signed up with ten pitches left at the Cullen Bay Holiday Park.
And, unlike Lossiemouth Bay Caravan Park, Ms Bell says that there is no age restriction for vans occupying pitches on the Cullen site.
She said: "We don't move people off because their van is getting old. My parents' van for example is 20 years old and it is in great condition.
"They can stay on the site as long as they like as long as they look after their vans and pay their site fees.
"They've just got to pay next year's site fees which is what they would pay next year at their own park anyway.
"I've been a caravanner and my parents have got caravans so we like to run the park as if we are caravanners.
"If you take my mum and dad, the community is everything for them at their park so hopefully we can keep some of the Lossie caravanners together by doing this."
Moray MP Douglas Ross recently met with representatives of Park Holidays UK to discuss the Lossiemouth Bay Caravan Park situation further.
He branded it "unacceptable" and is due to meet with them again in the coming weeks to see if there has been any progress addressing some of the issues raised by caravan owners at the site.
