The owners of about 40 holiday cabins in the South Australian town of Beachport have been banned from using them over summer in a drawn-out process sparked by fire safety concerns.
Meg Longstaff and her husband bought one of the units three years ago, but will not be able to spend Christmas there with their son and dog — and may never stay in the unit again.
“When the unit came up, it honestly was like a dream come true for us,” Ms Longstaff said.
“We’re very normal people; we’re not super well-off.
“This was an affordable, good-faith investment, but it has turned into a bit of a nightmare in the past few months, not knowing where we stand.”
The units at the Southern Ocean Tourist Park overlook Beachport’s Rivoli Bay. (ABC South East SA: Eugene Boisvert)
Fire safety risk discovered
Owners of semi-permanent units at the Southern Ocean Tourist Park can sell them on the open market.
Units generally sell for $30,000–$80,000, but, officially, that money is only for the cabin itself.
The park’s owner — the Wattle Range Council — issues yearly licences for the land the cabins sit on but has the right to cancel them if it chooses.
Ms Longstaff’s husband received a letter on July 24 saying their licence would not be renewed for the 2025–26 financial year until fire safety issues discovered by the independent Wattle Range Council Building Fire Safety Committee were resolved.
The units have been in place for decades, but the committee decided earlier this year that they did not meet the standard of state government regulations for new caravan parks that came into effect in 2019 and were updated in 2023.
Wattle Range Council director of development services Emma Clay said the main issue was that the units were within 3 metres of each other.
She said a fire in one unit could easily spread to the others, and there was not enough room to adequately spread them out.
An engineer is expected to present recommendations for improved fire safety around the units at a council meeting next month.
A fact sheet sent to owners said ongoing use was “not guaranteed”, depending on the engineer’s findings.
“The safety of the occupants has to come first and, now that we’re aware that there’s this heightened risk, we have to deal with it,” Ms Clay said.
End of family tradition
Ms Longstaff and her family live in Swan Hill, in northern Victoria.
Her husband grew up spending summers in Beachport, about 500 kilometres away, and wanted to pass the tradition on to his own family.
Meg Longstaff with her son at Beachport. (Supplied: Meg Longstaff)
Holiday houses in Beachport regularly sell for more than $1 million, so the couple thought buying a cabin at the caravan park would allow them to continue to visit the quiet beachside town, while knowing there was a slight risk their licence over the land could be cancelled.
“It’s really disappointing that we’re not going to be able to be granted even a temporary licence using alternative safety measures — like we don’t have any options for the interim,” Ms Longstaff said.
“And it’s not just us — there’s a whole community of us that are going to be affected; families just like ours that are going to miss making memories like every year before.”
Improvements some time coming
Ms Clay said fire safety improvements could include firewalls between units, as well as adding fire hose reels and fire hydrants to the area, which could allow them to continue to be within 3m of each other.
But any work is unlikely to be completed before the end of the summer school holidays.
The cabins at Southern Ocean Tourist Park are likely to require safety improvements. (ABC South East SA: Eugene Boisvert)
Some units are in poor condition and would be difficult to move.
“We simply are looking for a solution — a reasonable outcome within an acceptable time frame,” Ms Longstaff said.
“It’s been a very stressful past few months with no real direction, only delays and extended periods of not knowing where we stand at all.”
Beachport is known for its relaxed atmosphere and its fishing. (ABC South East SA: Eugene Boisvert)
Debate over safety strictness
Chris Sloper is president of the SA Residential Parks Residents Association, a group that represents the owners of permanent units rather than holiday cabins.
He said his association’s members had faced similar issues with 3m separation that had been resolved with firewalls and sprinklers.
Mr Sloper said Southern Ocean Tourist Park residents may be able to appeal the council’s decision to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT), as their units were built before the new regulations came in.
“[SACAT] would obviously factor in that these licences have been in for a considerable time before the legislation was altered,” he said.
The Wattle Range Council will consider recommendations in December. (ABC South East SA: Eugene Boisvert)
National Fire Industry Association technical manager Steve Micallef said fire safety in caravan parks needed to be taken more seriously, especially with more elderly people using them and the use of electric cars, e-scooters and e-bikes on the rise.
“The industry expects the caravan sites will need a major incident like the Childers backpacker fire for any change to occur,” he said.
“We are constantly lobbying governments and regulators for greater care to be taken for all occupied buildings, but fire protection systems fall off the radar and are labelled as an additional expense to a growing number of issues in the construction industry cost blowouts.”