The recommendation to standardise fees and so withdraw the temporary discount from Glendhu Bay, along with the latest financial report for council holiday parks for the nine months to March 31, were unanimously received by the council's finance and corporate committee, in Queenstown yesterday.
Council deputy chief executive and finance manager Stewart Burns told committee members "serious repair and maintenance" costing more than $2 million had to be done on both Glendhu Bay and Wanaka holiday parks, despite surveyed users being largely happy with the parks as they were.
However, failure to act would have run health risks for park users and the quality of the environment, Mr Burns reported.
"The infrastructure at Glendhu Bay was not in an condition to operate further," he told the committee.
"That [$2 million] debt needs to be serviced in the future."
The Glendhu Bay and Wanaka parks were taken over by the council in 2010 and fees were to be brought in line with Queenstown and Arrowtown parks. But the use of the two new parks by long-term stayers in caravans was "possibly the hottest issue" since the acquisitions, Mr Burns said.
"We wanted to make sure caravans were fit for purpose and stored when not in use," Mr Burns said.
"Some users couldn't adapt and took their caravans away."
Council chief executive Debra Lawson said the committee's decision would give "absolute clarity on a framework of charges to be communicated to campers" across the district.
Cr Leigh Overton noted there were longer stays in the Christmas season and asked if there would be a minimum length of stay for holiday park users, while Cr Lex Perkins supported the storage of empty caravans, to maintain the grass beneath them.
However, Crs Mel Gazzard and Russell Mawhinney wanted the information on fees contained in the committee meeting agenda made clearer for the public.
The expected gross revenue this year for the four council-owned and operated holiday parks was $4.46 million.
