A Nottinghamshire couple in their mid-80s face being kicked off a caravan park - after being told to buy a replacement static and sign a new 15-year licence deal. Neil and Jean Borrill have owned a static caravan at The Star, near Alton Towers, for 21 years.
But their current licence runs out in November this year and they have been told to buy a new caravan and sign the 15-year licence - or get off the site. The Borrills say a number of other long-term caravan owners are facing a similar dilemma, Stoke on Trent Live reports.
Neil said: “This has caused considerable upset and anger with everybody. The only way we can stay on the site is to purchase another caravan which, if it's comparable to the style and quality of the one we’ve got, would cost £70,000 to £80,000. In our financial position, it’s an impossibility.
“All new caravans on the site come with a 15-year licence. But without being daft, we don’t know how long we’ll be able to drive from Nottingham, it could be another year, or it could be another five years. If I bought a caravan this year, it would last us until we are 100!
“The alternatives are we just abandon our existing caravan and they would then charge us for the removal of the caravan or we try to sell it to a dealer who would give us a minimal amount and take it away.”
Neil and Jean have spent the majority of their 64-year marriage caravanning. They are unhappy with The Camping and Caravanning Club's response to their predicament.
Neil added: "They seem to think we should be buying a new caravan. It’s ludicrous. None of us can see the logic in what they’re doing. I think it's disgusting, it's insulting. We’re not young but we’re not idiots, they’re treating us like idiots.
“When we came onto this site, the owner said, ‘This is your little bit of England, it’s yours as long as you want it’. This latest caravan is perfect, it's not just a holiday home it’s our second home where we can come and go as we like. Unless we can find some kind site owner, this will be the end of us visiting the area.”
The Camping and Caravanning Club has defended its stance. A club spokesman said: “While we sympathise with Mr Borrill’s position, the club is a not-for-profit membership organisation and it’s vitally important that we apply our policies, and terms and conditions, fairly and consistently to all our members. Any new unit is sold with a 15-year licence from the day of handover. If the unit is then subsequently sold, the pre-owned unit is bought by the new owner along with the duration of the remaining part of the 15-year licence.
“These policies are in place to ensure that we meet the requirements of our recreational licences and, given we must apply them fairly to all, unfortunately, we are unable to offer any period of short-term extension.
“Providing our members with exceptional customer service is something we take great pride in and we value the many customer service awards we have received. While some of our correspondence on this matter would be standard automated notifications, none of our customer service would be rude or insulting.
“We do understand how disappointing this must be for Mr Borrill, who we have been talking to and will continue to do so in order to work together to resolve the matter over the coming weeks and months.”
