After 30 years caravan owners given weeks to leave park
Caravan owners have been told they have weeks to remove their property from a site – some of them have been on the park for 30 years.
Residents of Spicers Caravan Park at Spicers Hall Farm, Claverley, are furious as they say they have not had enough time, weren't consulted and have spent thousands on caravans.
But new owners Sought After Location are not renewing its licence and said they are willing to work with residents to make the move as 'painless as possible'.
The caravan owners are being given the option of towing the caravan to a new site or signing it over to the owners of the park.
Brian Martin, from Wednesbury, has visited his caravan every weekend for the past seven years, and only found out he'd have to move it at the beginning of this month.
He said it was bad enough for him to have been told to move his caravan by the middle of April, but there are a number of older people who will really struggle. The 73-year-old said: "What they want us to do is tow the caravan off. We've got no means to do that. It's going to cost £1,500 to do that. Then you've got to have a site to put it on.
"The caravan's a bit old, but it's immaculate inside and out.
"We're supposed to sign it over to them, but we've paid for a number of new improvements, including a cooker that was £700. We can't let them just have them and to give us nothing.
"We were told we've been given the statutory amount and that's it.
"Surely we're entitled to compensation. It's bad enough to lose the caravan at all, but to come away with nothing to show for it. We might be in our right to get a solicitor, but that's more money we have to spend.
"It's awful. One day we've had a letter, the next we're off."
Eileen Prendergast of Sought After Location said: "Anybody that has contacted us and said they've needed more time, we've listened and we've given it to them. We're accommodating people.
"Once we know their circumstances, if we can assist at any time we will. As long as we know, that's fine. We're not heartless.
"We've said that people can take their own caravan. If they can't do it, they can sign it over to us. We're giving people time to get their things together.
"The caravans there are very old. Most holiday parks have a requirement that the caravans have to be kept up to date. They are very lucky they haven't been asked to renew.
"We are sensitive to people's situations and we will work with them to make sure this as painless as it can be under these circumstances."
Mrs Prendergast said it was too early to say what plans the firm have for the site once it is cleared.
