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Plans proceed for alternative management arrangements at Aberdeenshire’s caravan parks

A process has been approved to allow Aberdeenshire Council to draw up proposals to externalise the operation and management of its caravan parks.

The move by the Infrastructure Services Committee (ISC) follows a decision taken by the Full Council in November to develop the proposal, against a backdrop of budget cuts.

Officers have clarified the council’s legal position in relation to its caravan parks portfolio and while it may be possible to sell the majority of sites, the most appropriate solution is thought to be to offer them on a long-term lease basis.

Work is still needed on the form such a lease arrangement would take, transferring appropriate responsibilities to any new operator while retaining a degree of council control, to protect Aberdeenshire’s assets in the longer term.

Members of ISC recently decided that, given the importance of caravan parks to local communities, local organisations and groups will be given first refusal of local parks.

If there is no interest or this is not possible, the next step would be to offer opportunities to private companies.

ISC chairman Peter Argyle said: “The caravan parks are not the council’s – they are community assets that we look after on behalf of the community.

“It is the right approach to go back to communities and ask if they want to be involved in the management of their caravan parks and then come to an arrangement on that basis.

“Clearly not every caravan park will have a community group that wants to take over. In that case we can widen the search.”

Committee vice-chair Jill Webster said: “I certainly see the caravan parks as being extremely important to each of the communities they are in and to the local economy, because they bring in a lot of investment.”

She highlighted it as an opportunity for community groups and trusts to earn income from which could potentially be used to fund other community projects.

Councillor Alistair Ross said anyone looking to run one of the parks should have to submit a robust business case and be clear that the council will not support it financially. He emphasised the importance of retaining parks for communities.

Officers will continue to work to transfer ownership of the caravan parks, with a further report due back to ISC on May 12.