Tuesday 5 July 2016

Management of Calypso Caravan Park in Yamba changes hands


A number of locals have contacted North Coast Voices asking whether JKT & Sons Pty Ltd lost the tender for management of Calypso Caravan Park at Yamba because Cr. Karen Toms is a vocal critic of Clarence Valley Council when it doesn’t follow proper local government process.

As I haven't been following this matter the only answer I can give is to set out established fact and quote from tender notifications and the official June minutes of council.

RFT16/014 Operation and Management of Calypso Yamba Holiday Park. Tenders for the operation of this caravan park were called on 7 May and closed on 9 June 2016.


Tenders are invited from suitably experienced applicants for the contract operation and management of Calypso Yamba Holiday Park. The initial contract will be for a period of 5 years from 29 August 2016, with the option of a further 3 years plus a further 3 years at the discretion of the Clarence Coast Reserve Trust.
A non-mandatory pre-tender site meeting will be held on Monday 16 May 2016 at 1.00pm. Registration is requested to attend the meeting by contacting Libby Douglas on (02) 6643-0219.
The tender documents can be obtained at no charge by registering and downloading (see option below).
All tender enquiries are to be directed to Julie Schipp, Holiday Parks and Saleyards Officer via (see option below).
Tenders are to be submitted electronically in accordance with the instructions included in the tender documentation by no later than 3:00pm on Thursday 9th June 2016.

Clarence Valley Council quoted the pre-estimate for the tender at $250,000 (inc GST).

Those listed as tendering were:

Valley Pool Services Pty Ltd - M. Irwin (director) PO Box 5119, Glenreagh NSW 2450
CM & PA Easdown Pty Ltd - A. Easdown (director) PO Box 159, Evans Head NSW 2473
JKT & Sons Pty Ltd –J. Tom (director) 14 Harbour St, Yamba NSW 2464, current operator
Belgravia Leisure Pty Ltd - D. Beck (director) 20 Longstaff Rd, Bayswater VIC 3153
Discovery Holiday Parks Pty Ltd - G. Wilckens (director) L2 157 Grenfell St, Adelaide SA 5000
IBA Tourism Asset Management Pty Ltd - C. Carroll (director) L2 15 Lancaster Pl, Majura Park ACT 2609.

On 28 June 2016 the Clarence Valley Council  Ordinary Monthly Meeting listed this item:

URGENT, SUPPLEMENTARY AND LATE ITEMS OF BUSINESS A) GENERAL MANAGER (MATTERS IN RESPECT OF WHICH NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN) 16.010/16 Calypso Holiday Park Management Tender

The vote was as follows:

COUNCIL RESOLUTION – 16.010/16
Williamson/Lysaught

That Council as corporate Trust Manager of the Clarence Coast Reserve Trust:
1. accept the tender from CM & PA Easdown Pty Ltd for the management and operation of the Calypso Yamba Holiday Park under RFT16/014 with a retainer of $200,165 (incl. GST) plus commissions to be funded from PJ996780 – Calypso Holiday Park
2. authorise the General Manager to approve any contract variations up to 10% of the contract sum
3. affix the Council seal to any required documentation
4. respond to NTSCORP Ltd as outlined in the Marsdens Law Group letter dated 9 June 2016.
5. The tender price from all tenderers be made public by including them in the Minutes for this item, being:

Tenderer                                                              Tendered Price
Belgravia Leisure Pty Ltd                                   $433,123
CM & PA Easdown Pty Ltd                                $200,165
Discovery Holiday Parks Pty Ltd                      $550,000
IBA Tourism Asset Management Pty Ltd         $420,484
JKT & Sons Pty Ltd                                            $304,600
Valley Pool Services Pty Ltd                             $120,000

Voting recorded as follows:
For: Williamson, Baker, Kingsley, Hughes, Lysaught, Howe
Against: McKenna, Simmons

Background:

During the tender process a submission was received from NTSCORP Ltd (NTSCORP) on 3 June 2106, on behalf of the Yaegl Traditional Owners (refer to confidential attachment). Legal advice (confidential attachment) was sought from Council’s lawyers, Mardens Law Group to enable a response to be drafted as a reply. To date the letter from NTSCORP has been acknowledged, however the proposed response supplied by Marsdens dated 9 June 2016 is attached (Confidential Attachment) to this report for consideration by the Trust when considering this tender.

According to ASIC records details of the company managing Calypso Caravan Park from late August 2016 are:
Name:
CM & PA EASDOWN PTY LTD
ACN:
140 423 614
ABN:
Registration date:
6/11/2009
Next review date:
6/11/2016
Status:
Registered
Type:
Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Locality of registered office:
ALBURY NSW 2640
Regulator:
Australian Securities & Investments Commission

The ABN record for the company lists its current main place of business as Post Code NSW 2473 where the company manages the North Coast Holiday Parks Evans Head* formerly known as Silver Sands Caravan Park. The initial contract expired on 30 June 2016 but presumably was renewed, as the Easdowns are expecting to be resident on site during the upcoming $12 million upgrade to the Evans Head holiday park and community reserve.

I note that the Clarence Valley Council tender vote was not unanimous. As the two councillors who voted against acceptance are both practicing accountants one has to wonder what it was about the bid that gave them pause.

*North Coast Holiday Parks [for NSW CROWN HOLIDAY PARKS TRUST] manage 32 Crown Reserves covering approximately 280 hectares of highly valued sensitive coastal environments. Included within these reserves are 23 holiday parks covering an area of 110 hectares, and approximately 170 hectares of other Crown Reserves consisting of expansive areas of coastal dunes, littoral rainforests, riparian zones and estuarine foreshores. 

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