http://www.tenterfieldstar.com.au/news/local/news/general/tourism-park-faces-closure/1954194.aspx
Tourism
park faces closure
MARIE LOW
29 Sep, 2010 04:00 AM
A SECOND
Tenterfield Shire adventure tourism
park will be issued with a notice to close as it prepares for a major event.
Tenterfield Shire Council this month found Rover
Park, on the Bruxner Highway, had been operating 4WD tracks, trail bike tracks, a flying fox, waterslide and two-hole golf course, but was only approved as a
camping site.
Council will issue Rover
Park operators Hans and Heidi Hautle with a notice of intention to close, allowing just 14 days for the owners to convince them otherwise.
The
park is scheduled to hold an Octoberfest event on October 2-4. Council estimated the event could attract 2000-3000 people.
Council general manager Jim Gossage said the notice of intention to close was unlikely to be issued ahead of the event. But he said any use of the facilities outside the existing approvals would be illegal.
Mr Hautle said he had been shocked by council’s decision.
“Council didn’t have all the facts,” he said.
Mr Hautle said a further development application would be submitted, but he had been unaware that they had been operating without the correct approvals.
“Nothing is new – we have had the flying fox for six years and the
water slide for three years,” he said.
“Council inspected the
park about one-and-a-half years ago and everything was hunky-dory then. They helped us to bitumen the road.”
Mr Hautle said Rover
Park would still hold the Octoberfest event.
The notice to close comes about nine months after council closed adventure
park Emu
Creek Extreme Retreat for non-compliance with council regulations.
The owners’ Blair and Melly Maxwell’s negotiations with council to reopen Emu
Creek has prompted an angry response from neighbours, with police called to an incident at the July council meeting. The
park has reopened, but not for
camping or other accommodation.
Council officers noted during council discussions about Emu
Creek that similar operators would be investigated to ensure they were meeting council requirements.
Legal advice to council about Rover
Park stated: “It is clear in our view that the current activities being conducted at the
park take it
well outside the concept of `
camping ground’ for which the approval is held…
“… the activities at the
park currently being conducted are clearly outside the terms of the current consent and are therefore unlawful.”
Among legal concerns listed were:
- an illegal “shed/dwelling house” on the site
- compliance with Building Code of Australia requirements of a number of sheds and cabins
- safety issues concerning equipment, including the flying fox and waterslide
- fire safety compliance.
Councillor John Macnish told council these were serious compliance issues.
“You can’t build a house and put the DA (development application) in after you have moved in,” Cr Macnish said. “What we are saying is it’s ok to put the DA in when you are finished. I don’t think that’s acceptable.
“It leaves us open to serious legal issues.
“I want to know why it’s taken so long for something to be done. This has been operating for many, many years.”
Councillor Lucy Sullivan said she believed council needed to follow legal advice.
“If we didn’t, then we would be doing something very, very foolish,” she said.
Mayor Toby Smith said he believed the owners of Rover
Park had been cooperating with council and had “admitted to some inadvertent errors”.
Council voted seven to two to issue the notice, with Councillors Smith and Lawrie West voting against the motion.