Kimberley Seedy, Knox Leader-

WANTIRNA Caravan Park evictees have told of the financial stress they are under, with one man standing to lose $170,000 on the unit he is now trying to sell.

It comes as a housing action group calls for compensation for residents forced out of the park.
Alan Hawker and his wife Loraine, both 69, have lived in their unit for 13 years and don’t know where they’ll go when the park closes.

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Mr Hawker said his unit was valued at $170,000 and wants the park’s owner to buy it if he can’t sell it.

“It’s a lot of money to just walk away and leave,” Mr Hawker said.

“We’ve got too much money involved in this house to just pack up and move out.”

Vietnam veteran David Yole, 68, and his wife Helene, 77, have lived in a unit at the park for 25 years and stand to lose $70,000-$80,000 when the park closes and they have to leave their two-bedroom unit behind.

Mr Yole said it would cost between $5000 and $30,000 to move the unit, and they didn’t have anywhere to take it.

“I don’t know what we are going to do,” Mr Yole said.

“When we discuss it my wife ends up in tears.

They also want the owner to give compensation to residents.

“We’re all appealing to him to man up and do the right thing,” Mr Yole said.

“I know legally he doesn’t have to, but morally ... this is our home.”

The owner of the park is not legally required to compensate tenants who are being evicted. Picture: Steve Tanner

Trevor Russell said he still didn’t know what he would do when the park closed.

He has been on the public housing waiting list for seven years.

Housing for the Aged Action Group’s Aoife Cooke said some residents could be forced to go into debt to pay for costs associated with leaving the park.

She said residents weren’t legally entitled to compensation, but the law should be changed so they were.

“There is no legal basis for compensation, but there certainly is an ethical one,” Ms Cooke said.

“You have very low-income people who as well as having to move house and becoming homeless, there are huge costs involved in this situation, such as relocation costs, moving costs, disposing of units if that’s relevant to their situation.

“I think the (residents) haven’t been protected by a legislative framework that really caters for the needs of people in caravan parks.”

She said a parliamentary inquiry into the retirement housing sector was due to be released in March and her group was advocating for reform so residents had security of tenure and a right to compensation.

When asked if residents would be offered compensation, a statement from PR company Royce Communications, on behalf of site owner LongRiver, said “the park owners and managers continue to work with Knox City Council, Uniting Care, and the State Government to determine ways residents can be assisted”.

Caravan park owner Andrew Yu refused to discuss his plans directly.

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