Torquay Caravan Park reopening ‘on track’ for the tourist season

Erin Pearson
TORQUAY Caravan Park is set to reopen to the public in time for the tourist season after five months of upgrade work, according to its management body.
Great Ocean Road Coast Committee acting chief executive officer Richard Davies said stage one would open on October 31, with work “well-ahead of schedule”.
“I walked though the place on Tuesday and looked at the vans being relocated back into a brand new area and it all looks great,” he said.
“Most of the work is underground and we have managed to maintain as much natural vegetation as possible so the place may not look very much different, which is the aim because many campers come to the caravan park because of its natural look.”
The $1.7 million stage one works upgraded power and water supplies to half of the park’s 600 sites, spread over 12 hectares.
Mr Davies said “100 long-term permit holders” had to make way for the work.
“It was difficult for (them) in that they needed to relocate temporarily to enable the construction works to safely procede but on Monday the first group of 10 started to be relocated back to the site already,” he said.
“More than 10,000 people pass through the park over the summer season and some long-term permit holders have been around for 10 to 20 years so getting the project finished on time has always been a priority.”
Committee chairman John Carlile said the changes were “much needed”.
“It has been a long time since any money has been spent on the place because the park hadn’t been touched much for around 100 years, so we’ve been playing a bit of catch-up,” he said.
Further works are to follow as part of long-term carvan park upgrade plans.