Mark Isherwood
North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has spoken in support of proposed holiday caravan park legislation which will help tackle the problems facing the industry and caravan owners in North Wales.
Responding to Clwyd West AM Darren Millar’s Statement on his Holiday Caravan Sites (Wales) Bill, which seeks to reform current legislation dating back to 1960, Mr Isherwood welcomed the fact that Mr Millar has been developing the Bill in co-operation with the two main industry bodies.
The Bill includes proposals to give caravan owners and long-term occupiers rights to protection from harassment, rights to be included in decisions about changes to sites and the right to a written statement of the terms and conditions under which a pitch on a holiday caravan site can be occupied.
Questioning his colleague in the Chamber over a number of issues raised with him by the industry and caravan owners in North Wales, Mr Isherwood asked:
“How would you address the constituent who e-mailed me to say that the owner of her holiday park had been refusing to allow her to move to another caravan site and that she felt very intimidated by this? She said that there was very little legislation governing the practices of site owners such as hers.
“Similarly, where a caravan owner may be in dispute with a park owner over a legitimate matter, but is reluctant to take action on their own account in case of reprisals, the holiday caravan arbitration scheme run by the British Holiday and Home Parks Association does not apply when caravan owners are threatened with eviction and relates only to financial recompense. So, how do we stop unscrupulous caravan park owners threatening caravan owners with eviction when they have simply sought to settle a grievance or highlight a problem?”
Mr Millar said that protections from harassment are in place on the face of the Bill, so that such situations should become a thing of the past if the Bill is passed and enforced in the future.
