Camping grounds sell up

By ANNE GIBSON

Pressure to develop seaside property has resulted in eight Coromandel camping grounds closing since 1999.

As coastal land values continue to rise and owners look at the return on their land, the Coromandel camping holiday is becoming a thing of the past and beachfront family camps are rapidly becoming extinct.

The camps - once open to families with limited means - are now becoming multi-million dollar residential developments for the well-heeled.

Peter Sluyter, of Bayleys Research, has documented a flood of closures since 1999. He said that if family campers wanted to retain their regular holiday spot, they would be forced to either buy beachfront land or rent holiday homes.

The Pauanui Airtel camp beside the airstrip at Pauanui is the latest casualty of the beachfront boom. Caravans on the site were towed away three weeks ago and the camp is now closed. A large residential subdivision is planned for the site, Mr Sluyter said.

Other Coromandel camping grounds which have closed are Hotwater Beach Motor Camp, which shut in May; Homestead Park Resort at Flaxmill Bay, which shut last year; Tairua Motor Camp, which shut in 2001; Whangapoua's Back To Basics Motor Camp, which shut between 1999 and 2000; Kuaotunu Holiday Park, which shut in 2001; Blue Dolphin, the Brophy's Beach camp at Whitianga, which shut in 2001, and Water's Edge at Whitianga, which shut between last year and this year.

"Several camping grounds closed as a result of rising rates and good offers from buyers and developers." Mr Sluyter said.

"To avoid being left in the wilderness, traditional campers wishing to retain a regular holiday interest in the locality are either forced to buy or rent holiday homes." It had resulted in strong sales of planned Whitianga apartment projects, Mr Sluyter said.

Marina Park, a 66-unit project where apartments were selling for between $150,000 and $395,000, was planned for the area. Units at Aqua Soleil, a 50-unit complex on Buffalo Beach Rd, were selling for between $150,000 and $350,000 and would be finished next year, he said.

Early this year, Geoff Wolfe, the owner of a holiday park at Hot Water Beach, told the Herald that although he was giving up his park to build a home, he understood why other camps sold.

"Camping grounds don't have to be on the beach - it's been a luxury over the years, but they can be half a kilometre away."

Whitianga's Aladdin Holiday Park owner, Bob Scott, said that he also understood the pressures on owners.

"They've been there forever and now they are in rather prime land. For the value of the land the owners are not getting a huge return," he said in April.

The Cooks Beach Motor Camp (2.89ha site and facilities) was reported to have fetched $1.3 million last year. It was sold to a South Island company.