Owners of the vans are expected to speak at Nambucca Shire Council’s fortnightly meeting today (17th) to ask that the semi-permanents not be removed.

The part of the caravan park that houses these vans is owned by council, but managed by the Scotts Head Reserve Trust. It has been suggested that, due to the costs of upgrading the services to this area in the future, council remove these vans under the Scotts Head Master Plan.

If that happened, Armidale-based owner Chris Preston said Scotts Head would find itself out of pocket.

“I use it on weekends and for holidays, and we all (semi-permanent van owners) support the local shops and the club,” he said.

“Some current full-time residents started off as semi-permanent owners. We support Scotts Head.”

He said the van owners maintained that area, meaning council did not have to mow or care for it. If it evicted the vans, council would have to cover all that cost, Mr Preston said.

Mr Preston called on people who wanted to see the semi-permanents remain to attend tonight’s meeting.

Nambucca Shire Council General Manager Michael Coulter said there were problems with the current van arrangements.

There was not enough room between them, causing a fire hazard, and there were no amenities or storm water systems.

Last month, council voted in favour of an option that would see the council take control of the land that it owned, the site of the semi-permanent vans, and leave the Department of Lands in charge of the Crown Land area (the caravan park and reserve).

Mr Coulter said, considering the costs of bringing that area up to standard, it was likely at least some of the 43 vans would be removed. He said the semi-permanent vans did not offer the same level of returns as the tourist accommodation sites let out in the caravan park.

“We would have to cost it out to see how viable it would be to keep them,” he said.