A holiday park approval will include caravan parks that traditionally provide mixed-use accommodation types, but specifically sites for accommodation vehicles and tents. Sites can be provided for both long-stay and short-stay. A nature based park approval will be for facilities that are not in close proximity to an area that is built up with structures used for business, industry or dwelling-houses at intervals of less than 100 metres for a distance of 500 metres or more, and has been predominately formed by nature and has limited or controlled artificial light and noise intrusion. Stays will be restricted to no more than 28 days in any three month period. An event approval will be for special events where there is more than one accommodation vehicle and/or tent outside of an approved facility. An approval cannot be issued for any period greater than seven days and no more than four approvals can be issued for the property in a year. All facilities must abide by minimum standards as prescribed. These standards will be outcomes-based, rather than prescriptive, to allow for flexibility in approach. Discussion It was previously proposed that the licence categories should be reduced to more appropriately reflect the types of facilities. This proposal is reflected in option (ii), which suggests three categories, rather than seven, as proposed in option (i), status quo. Following an assessment of the consultation feedback, two further options have been included. Option (iii) proposes that there are no categories and all facilities must comply with the same minimum standards. This approach, in addition to reducing red tape by prescribing uniform standards for different categories, also affords the same protection to all users and the environment. A further option, option (iv), proposes that there are three approval to operate categories: holiday park, nature based park and event. All categories will be required comply with the same minimum standards. Under option (iv), a person will be able to apply for an approval to operate specifically for an event. Requiring an event approval allows the local government to assess whether the person holding the event has considered all the necessary elements to protect the health and safety of users, and reduce environmental impact. Options (i) and (ii) may result in confusion when applying different standards to different accommodation types, when it can be argued that all categories should
A holiday park approval will include caravan parks that traditionally provide mixed-use accommodation types, but specifically sites for accommodation vehicles and tents. Sites can be provided for both long-stay and short-stay. A nature based park approval will be for facilities that are not in close proximity to an area that is built up with structures used for business, industry or dwelling-houses at intervals of less than 100 metres for a distance of 500 metres or more, and has been predominately formed by nature and has limited or controlled artificial light and noise intrusion. Stays will be restricted to no more than 28 days in any three month period. An event approval will be for special events where there is more than one accommodation vehicle and/or tent outside of an approved facility. An approval cannot be issued for any period greater than seven days and no more than four approvals can be issued for the property in a year. All facilities must abide by minimum standards as prescribed. These standards will be outcomes-based, rather than prescriptive, to allow for flexibility in approach. Discussion It was previously proposed that the licence categories should be reduced to more appropriately reflect the types of facilities. This proposal is reflected in option (ii), which suggests three categories, rather than seven, as proposed in option (i), status quo. Following an assessment of the consultation feedback, two further options have been included. Option (iii) proposes that there are no categories and all facilities must comply with the same minimum standards. This approach, in addition to reducing red tape by prescribing uniform standards for different categories, also affords the same protection to all users and the environment. A further option, option (iv), proposes that there are three approval to operate categories: holiday park, nature based park and event. All categories will be required comply with the same minimum standards. Under option (iv), a person will be able to apply for an approval to operate specifically for an event. Requiring an event approval allows the local government to assess whether the person holding the event has considered all the necessary elements to protect the health and safety of users, and reduce environmental impact. Options (i) and (ii) may result in confusion when applying different standards to different accommodation types, when it can be argued that all categories should
Holiday-parks-camping-grounds.docx