RESIDENTS at a Kilwinning Caravan Park have hit out after fee rises were put forward by the site owners.

Around 70 people turned out to a meeting recently to discuss changes to the way fees are paid and the lack of facilities at Viewfield Manor Holiday Park.

Situated in Torranyard, Kilwinning, the site is home to over 200 holiday homes and is open 11 months of the year.

One angry owner spoke to the Herald this week about the changes and how they are thinking of leaving the park, which could cost them thousands of pounds.

They said: “We are really demoralised at the moment. They don’t seem to care about the owners, they just care about the money.

“About 17 people have left the site already and some of the older residents are ready to walk.

“It’s a lot of money for not a lot.”

Some of the leisure facilities at the site have been out action since a fire in May and there was even talk of a boycott by residents.

The owner added: “They sorted the shop and restaurant quickly but we have been left with no swimming pool or sauna and we haven’t had any sort of rebate.”

Site fees are currently around £2,000 but that is jumping up almost £1,000 and fees are having to be paid earlier than usual.

Owners were given only two weeks notice to come up £600 and a further £350 was expected due to the changes.

Park operators Verdant Leisure dispute the claims and say that nobody has complained about fee changes and that they would be happy to help site owners.

In a statement, Verdant Leisure said: “A number of owners at Viewfield Manor Holiday Park have written a letter to our senior management team regarding two areas of concern; the impact of the fire on park in May this year and the changes in site fee payment terms.

“This letter has been responded to by the company CEO. “In the response we highlighted the reasons why a number of facilities have been closed for an unexpected amount of time.

“This has been due to investigations into the fire which destroyed large parts of the pool and gym areas.

“We have invested a large amount of money, supplementing the insurance monies, to rebuild these facilities for next year.

“In the meantime, we have been refunding owners’ admission fees to nearby leisure facilities to compensate, as well as investing heavily in alternative entertainment for children since May.

“The second area of concern for Viewfield Manor owners, as flagged in their letter to Verdant Leisure’s senior management team, was the change is how site fees are paid this year as compared to last year.

“Our CEO explained to owners that we are adopting a new payment structure across our park portfolio.

“At Viewfield Manor this involved changing the site fee year by moving it back two months to begin on January 1 and end on December 31.

“We understand that this change could potentially cause temporary cashflow issues for owners and it is not our intention to create problems for our customers.

“To this end we have offered help and/or extra time to owners that need it.

“We have received no complaints regarding site fee rises and this was not an area of concern brought up in the letter to our senior management team.”

The company added: “With the completion of the developments at Viewfield Manor this year, along with the restored and revamped leisure facilities, we are sure 2018 will be a fantastic year to be an owner on the park.”