Long-term campers at Bright Holiday Park upset after being told to leave sites

Bright Holiday Park, operated by NRMA Parks and Resorts since 2011, has informed 34 of its 97 annual site holders their contracts would not be renewed for 2024 and vans and annexes are to be removed within 12 months.

An option was provided for those impacted to enter a ballot for 18 sites on the other side of the park, but all are too small to fit what they already have set up.

Melbourne resident David Fisher has been coming to Bright Holiday Park for more than 50 years and fears the order has been given to provide more short-term accommodation, such as cabins, in their place.

What upsets Mr Fisher the most is the fact the park sits on Crown land and has a policy in place to provide affordable accommodation.

However, with fees rising 50 per cent in the past two years alone, he said many families were being priced out of the market.

"They know exactly what they're doing and it's because they make a lot more money from cabins and glamping tents and short-term accommodation," he said.

"They've done no maintenance on the site. The park used to be spotless, and what NRMA has done is actually sub-contract to the managers and their money depends on how much they save and scrimp on not cleaning the place up."

Even if the replacement sites offered were large enough to accommodate the existing vans and annexes, Mr Fisher said it would cost more than $15,000 to shift them and return them to working order.

"There's new building regulations, there's offsets, there's a fire risk. It's not even realistic, and you only get 12 months to do it," he said.

Alpine Shire Council transferred management of the site to NRMA Parks and Resorts more than a decade ago and Mr Fisher said profit had been the primary focus, which in turn led to less money spent by visitors in the region.

"What I believe is happening is that by the time people get up here with the fuel costs towing caravans, and they've got their four kids, and they get hit with the extra money they've got to pay for a camping site, there's no money left in the pocket," he said.

"At the last council meeting, one of the local shop attendants actually said he's got 60 per cent less foot traffic through his door.

"The council has shown no care and no responsibility by giving it to a corporation."

Mr Fisher claimed 26 caravan camping sites had been lost due to the installation of cabins and glamping tents.

Four glamping tents took away 11 spaces and have been unoccupied for three years as they don't meet building standards.

NRMA Parks and Resorts has defended its decision to transition annual van sites to short term accommodation, saying it will allow more people to visit Bright.

"The transition to short term accommodation is based on the uplift we expect the Bright region will see in their visitor economy which is forecast to see around 30,000 new visitor nights per annum, a welcome boost to the local regional economy," an NRMA Parks and Resorts spokesperson said.

"Annual guests are able to stay up to 180 nights during their contract year on annual sites but cannot stay more than 59 nights consecutively. On average, annual sites at Bright are used for 31 nights per year."

Noel McKay, who has used the park for the past 12 years, made a freedom of information request regarding the basis of the lease, the management plan provided by the lessee to the committee of management, and occupancy rates, but is yet to receive a reply.

He would like to see Alpine Council take back the management of the park to ensure money stays in the Bright region.

"It's supposed to be available in 30 days and we're 60 days in and no closer to knowing anything further," he said.

"They're in breach of the act now. I spoke to the council the other day and they're supposed to be releasing it, but they're waiting for a response from the NRMA.

"It's nothing else other than we like it here and we want to stay.

"We could put together a committee of management and run it, or have local people run it.

"There's a lot more people with caravans nowadays than there was even six years ago, but I don't know if there's any new caravan parks."

Mr Fisher's brother, Rodney, has spent more than $30,000 on upgrades to his residence and would be devastated to see it go.

"We take pride in our van and we're up here a lot. If we've got nothing on at home we just turn up," he said.

"When NRMA came in, the initial contract was a 21-year lease, but they had to inject millions into the caravan park. We want to see where that has gone.

"They put boom gates in, they put a swimming pool in and they re-did the toilet block down here a couple months ago, ripped everything out, resurfaced it and put the old toilets back in.

"There's been a water leak under one of the vans for 12 months that hasn't been fixed, all they've done is put sand there."

Site holder of more than 40 years Paul Stewart holds concerns for the waste dismantling the vans and annexes could bring.

"If it does come to pass, there's a massive amount of landfill that this will generate. All of these vans will be crushed and put somewhere in this shire," he said.

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