A beachside caravan park in the West Australian town of Esperance is set to be extended significantly after a lease agreement between the RAC and the local shire.
A $7.5 million redevelopment of the site of the former Blue Waters Lodge youth hostel will now see an extension of the current holiday park.
The Kalgoorlie Miner reports that the RAC is planning to create long vehicle sites for larger caravans and buses, another 20 self-contained chalets, a parking area, and a play area.
The reserve was formerly run as a youth hostel, but had been vacant for some time when the Shire of Esperance took on the property in 2020 to provide worker accommodation during the pandemic.
Esperance, here we come! It's not always easy to find a suitable site when you're driving a big rig. PIC: Dave Brightman
Shire president Ian Mickel said he was excited about what was to come.
“It’s time to hand this prime tourism site over to an organisation that has already shown us with the holiday park the fantastic results they can achieve,” he told the Kalgoorlie Miner.
Shire chief executive Shane Burge said the redevelopment of the site would diversify Esperance’s accommodation options.
“This gives significant exposure to our town and, once travellers are here, RAC works with local tourism operators encouraging guests to enjoy the amenities of our region,” he said. “This redevelopment will make best use of a beautiful piece of the Esperance foreshore, making it available for the enjoyment of many.”
The new extension is expected to complement the holiday park’s $12 million upgrade which included an oceanfront entertainment precinct with heated pool, games room, nature play and a barbecue area.
Esperance is hugely popular destination for grey nomads and other travellers and it traditionally sees its population more than double during the peak summer season.
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As long as they charge them extra!
we need larger sites most caravans these days are 22 ft and over and very difficult to get into some parks. caravan parks have to watch there charges. some charge more than motels. oldies dont need jumping castles ect. some parks are forcing càràvaners to show grounds and free camping most vans are fully self contained these days so should be a reduced charge to camp on a small block of dirt.
Exactly we don’t need all these activities. They cater for families now. But they forget who keeps them going in the off peak season. All a lot of us need is power and water. I have not used a caravan park amenities for 9 years. Nomads get very limited discounts. We don’t trash any thing in the parks. Beleiveme we have seen a lot of that.
@Evernew98,We don’t use park amenities so using your thought (or possibly lack of thought) process should we pay less.
@Evernew98, are you jealous of people with bigger rigs? They are not going to be taking two normal sites ,but specifically designed sites,so why should it worry you if they pay same as others?.
Because the big rigs get the best sites yet the smaller vans pay the same and get jammed in to tight sites. There needs to be a price differential to be fair. Small vans can then choose to pay the higher rate should they want a little breathing space.
You are renting more land within the park so yes you should pay more, or are you just too tight to pay?
Yes to the sites but as for charging them extra, why? They are still using the same amenities as other sites.
Not necessarily
Will cost more
Doesn’t help the problem with private business controlling accomodation, still needs to be parking for self contained rigs provided by the shire, at lower cost, knowing the RAC this paid accomodation will not be cheap
new caravan Parks yes bigger sites for big rigs.but Design part of the caravan Parks for Grey nomad’s for a tap and power.and that’s what you pay for nothing else.these are the ones that keep park’s open and operating in the off season all-around Australian .
They need to pay more as we get shoved into tight sites ‘just in case’ a big rig comes in. Very annoying as we all pay the same rate. I tend not to return to parks that do that.