New Zealand / Regional

Backdown over holiday park closure

05:58 am on 17 May 2013

Christchurch City Council has backed down on its plan to close a holiday park where 25 people are living.

The council announced on Tuesday that the South Brighton Holiday Park needed to close because the camp's amenities block does not meet the building code and is earthquake-prone.

The block was assessed to meet only 31% of the code and requires 34% to pass.

Many residents who spoke to Radio New Zealand on Thursday were outraged they had been told to move by 14 June.

They said they had nowhere else to go in a city where there was already a housing crisis following recent damaging earthquakes.

On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Bob Parker said the council had revised its plan and the amenities block would now undergo temporary strengthening repairs.

Mr Parker said the last thing the council wanted was make people homeless over winter, so finding a solution was important.

The council would look at a long-term solution to fix the building, he said.

Resident Lynette Wiggins said they had looked at alternative housing options, but there is nothing available and getting the news they had to move was worse than the quakes in 2010 and 2011.

Lyn Pilling, the holiday park's manager, said the council was being completely naive about the likelihood of people finding other accommodation.