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litheroetoday.co.uk


Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified), www.clitheroetoday.co.uk ■ . ■


'■ •■<■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ' 1: -•


Upset as mobile home ( owners fear for future


by Duncan Smith 200 4440101


TROUBLE is brewing at two prestigious Ribble Valley caravan parks, where some owners feared they could be made homeless for four months through the winter. The two companies which


by two months in the


J I have met have been Iing, understanding of i once again learning st a new set of ropes,


feply impressed that, (unities sit and moan


lens, in the Valley peo- I t on and make things


I big for one, they get Jlone. lire is a good example, lone but several local Ir the benefit of the


I t out for the Ribble pith trepidation, but Lipation of the day jiges it will bring and i more about my new ople in it.


(he Ribble Valley. Iho occupied this seat ; Valley for retirement pt, for the life of me, I ’m grateful to him


BACK


|rsago • Law for the Local


Ike to the Clitheroe (signing the newly- Iden to the Burnley


Opened the four-day ose of raising £2,300


(rred by the restora- h. At the ceremony,


| gathering represent- nmunity, she linked : trade and taxation “The only taxes that vill be taxes on our


j added that ‘“dump- pce, a feature of some s of bazaars.


i Dawson, of Bashall


Itealing a silver watch ] that she did not steal I them away, and that Is so she could not be guilty and was com- Ithout hard labour.


rsago


(dressed by the coun- L Gardner, and told


|ds for complaint, as 1 from a “controlled”


| were directed to aim I urged to reduce the


| their farms, so that l to worry about the bnal food production,


lichard Fort called for Iton industry. He said Commission had suf- rith the industry hav- ncreased competition Iton was struggling to


Jiarket. He called for (e Raw Cotton Bill, |tr ies in Lancashire


i of instability, the


Is cotton industry was Icession strength.


Irs ago Ition of funds, Ribble Ito take over the old Ik Street, Clitheroe. Tel Jackson said: “We


luld do with the hall if 1 be bought under our (centre sites as they


Intry landmark was 1 The old Co-op chim- ppled, along with the (rowing from it. I t did 1 it took contractors down. ace took place over a


iPendle Hill. Some 22 prate of beer up the ne a bottle at each of


|oints along the way. (minutes to complete |e r £500 for muscular


W IN D O W S L IM IT E D


General Hospital,


|ents and staff died. |d burning went on for : government sent the vas restored, but some


Ire lost - all over the pmsl ; people to their sens-


Jirch advocated a new lhankfully, caught on. (was IESOUS XRIS- (hich means JESUS IS! |oday in many parts of ; certainly beats “Up 1 the rest of them.


(of Advent approaches (the Festival of Christ- ake it your catchword? I our Lord and Saviour ucified and risen, con- .


for Vaughan, Priest-in- charge of


| Sabdcn and Pendleton• & . a ..........:...l in a !


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Why not visit our showroom and works at, nvfnrri Street. Oxford Works. Accrington or phone for a free no obligation quote on, Tel: 01254235390


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EVERY NIGHT.


THIS IS VHY ADULTS D@N'T NEED SANTA.


H E YORKSHIRE


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own the sites have attempted to allay those fears, but controver­ sy surrounding the issue could prompt Ribble.Valley Borough Council to stage a comprehen­ sive review of its policies on car­ avan sites. Todber Caravan Park, a t Gis-


burn, pictured below right, and Twyn Ghyll Country and Leisure Park,' above, a t Paythorne, both currently have eight-month licences governing their operation as holiday parks from March to October each year. But people who bought luxuri­


ous mobile homes on both sites claim they were told they could use them for the whole year apart from a four-week period at Twyn Ghyll and six weeks at Todber. While most owners use their


caravans only a t weekends or for holidays, some have sold, their homes to live a t the caravan parks. Although the sites are classed as holiday parks and the caravans sold as “second homes” or “holiday homes”, the reality is that some people sell their houses to live on-site virtually all year round, choosing sites which have long open seasons. I t is these people who feared


being homeless for up to four months when it transpired the Ribble Valley sites had eight- month licences. Now i t seems unlikely th a t


owners will be prevented from using their caravans, as both com­ panies are in the process of extending their open seasons. A spokesman at Ribble Valley


Borough Council explained there was a difference between planning permission for use as a caravan park and the park licences. I t is the planning permission that stip­ ulates how many weeks of the year the park can be open, while the function of the licence is to regulate standards on site. However, sites with planning


permission for longer seasons must meet tougher licensing stan­ dards to ensure they are suitable


for use in the winter. Mr John Macholc, the borough


council’s development control manager, said there was some con­


fusion over what licences and planning permissions were in force for both caravan parks, or for spe­ cific parts of those parks. He said in some cases the licences dated back many years and there were a number of historical anomalies that needed to be investigated and regularised. “Some of the licenses go back as


far as the ’60s and are very old. We are looking at all the licences to find out exactly what the situa­


tion is and this might prove the platform for a policy review," said Mr Macholc. Mr Alan Turner bought his


mobile home a t Twyn Ghyll in May this year on the understand­ ing he could use it for 11 months of the year. He told the Clitheroe Advertis­


er that he and other owners who. had “sold up” to live at the site were alarmed to be informed ear­ lier this year that they would have to move off at the end of October and not return until March. Now the park owner has told them that


is not the case. Mr Turner said a dozen owners


had sold their houses expecting to go on holiday or stay with friends and relatives for the one month th a t they could not use their mobile homes a t Twyn Ghyll. When it seemed that month had become four months, they did not know what to do. “People have been living under


a cloud of fear,” said Mr Turner, adding that some had paid up to £45,000 for their holiday homes at Twyn Ghyll. He also claimed his speaking


out had led to him being threat­ ened with eviction from the site at the end of November and he had now involved NACO - the Nation­ al Association of Caravan Owners - and the local MP in his case. However, Mr Miles Dewhurst,


a director of York-based Park Leisure 2000, which owns the Paythorne site, confirmed it would be fully open until the end of January as the company had promised and would continue to operate on tne basis of an 11- month season. He added th a t i t would be


wrong for him comment publicly on Mr Turner’s individual case, which was in the hands of solici­


tors. At Todber Caravan Park, the


chairman of the owners’ associa­ tion is Mr Joe McCarthy. He con­ tacted the Clitheroe Advertiser to raise several concerns, including th a t owners on part of the site were sold their caravans on the understanding they could use them for 10-and-a-half months, when the site had only an eight- month licence. He also claimed the site owner,


South Lakeland Caravans, had raised the annual site fee for some owners by more than 30% and some who had been on the site for many years could not afford the


increase. On top of that, a £65 adminis­


tration charge had been added to electricity bills, regardless of the size of the bill. The owners’ association has


held a number of meetings, con­ cerned mainly with the increased site fees, and is now seeking to involve NACO to a rb i tra te between caravan owners and the


site owner. Mr McCarthy said association


members would be asked to pay what was considered reasonable site fees into a trust account, but that the money would not be paid


over to South Lakeland Caravans until the issue was resolved. Chief executive of Carnforth-


based South Lakeland Caravans is Mr Graham Hodgson, who addressed many of Mr McCarthy’s points. He confirmed that open season


for part of the Todber Caravan Park is 10-and-a-half months, from March 1st to January 14th. The increased site fees apply to th a t part of the site and reflect the increased period for which it can be used. Mr Hodgson said the company


believed the site fees were appro­ priate for aTO-and-a-half month site and in line with the rest of the industry. But he stressed again th a t the homes on site were intended for holiday use, not as a primary place of residence. As for the electricity charge, he


explained th a t OFGEM - the electricity industry watchdog - had changed the rules for site owners. Previously a site owner could


sell electricity to people on site for more than it was bought for from the electricity company, and also levy a daily standing charge,


amounting to about £35 a year. Now OFGEM said site owners could no longer do either of those, but could charge an administra­ tion fee to cover costs such as meter reading and sending out bills. I t meant individual caravan


owners were now getting their electricity at a cheaper rate per u n it and not paying the daily standing charge, but instead had the administration fee to pay. ' “This is a change th a t’s been forced on us and we have tried to pass it on in what we felt was a reasonable way,” said Mr Hodg­ son; “I t is an issue across the industry, not just at Todber.”' Discussions between the com­


pany and the owners’ association at Todber are continuing. • Todber Caravan Park has


295 privately-owned caravans and facilities including an on-site shop,


bar, laundry and children’s play area. • Twyn Ghyll Country and


Leisure Park has more than 200 privately-owned caravans on site. Its facilities include a site shop, launderette, play area and games


room.


t h e i ix u ry hristmas,


Visit one of our showrooms


,anulth(K>sfefromj .sef^ction ofcontemporary.^


Invite to more young


farmers SLAIDBURN Young Farmer’s Club. is inviting new ■ members aged , ; 10 to 26 years • > to join the club! for excitement,* new friends ' and fun. The club


members meet; on Monday evenings in the village hall, A'1,’ and on Mon­ day they will , travel to New- . ton-in-Bow-. >/ land village - hall for a bingo ; night;''- Anyone ’


interested in',


'joining should’^ contact|01200' 446349..;''.; \


Longridge Road, Ribbleton, Preston Tel: 0 1 7 7 2 701033


Only 2 minutes from M6 junction 3 ! A (Next to Red Scar Industrial Estate)


GARSTANG N0RTH *


k. BLACKPOOL 1


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Families have sold their houses to live on holiday parks instead


Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, November 27th, 2003 5


CARPETS &


\ MEARS


S & F Ac a r p e t s j ^ - 3V ^


i<c& -r .Opening Times: Monday - Saturday 9.00am - 5.30pm Sunday 10.00am - 4.00pm


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