Spring Meeting 2025 - Copy - Swanage Bay View Caravan Owners Association

The meeting was chaired by the Association's chairman Kevan Barton and supported by membership Secretary Derek Kilner. The meeting was well attended with over 50 members in attendance.

Kevan started the meeting by reading a letter from Penny Ogden the General Manager at Swanage Bay View. A copy of this letter can be viewed by clicking on this link Penny's Letter

Matters arising from Penny’s letter:

There have been some problems with the pool and further work is required. Closures are only notified on the Facebook group Swanage Bay View Owners, The Third Place Social. So we do urge you to join this group if you want to be kept in the loop with this and any other issues on the park that may affect you.

We were provided with a list of dates and names of acts appearing in the View but no other info. We have gone back to the park asking for more details about the acts they have booked and we will circulate this information as and when we have it.

We were given a list of owners’ events but this is already on our website click link to view https://bayviewowners.co.uk/owners-events.html. The events are also published on the park's Facebook page The Third Place Social. The park ask that you book at least a week in advance so that they can cater accordingly.

Penny holds these one-to-one meetings that last Saturday of each month. Apparently very few owners take up this opportunity to speak to Penny. So if you are having issues or have some useful input and you want to discuss these with Penny then this would be an ideal opportunity.

The note in Penny’s letter covers just about everything. Disappointment was expressed that again during closure not enough hedge trimming etc had been carried out. The committee suggests that we take stock of the situation at our AGM later this year and decide what action if any is required if matters do not improve following the appointment of the new Parks Services Manager.

The form referred to in Penny's letter can be downloaded by clicking on the link. Letting Form

The message is quite simple. If you want the park to do something for you not covered by your license then expect to pay for it.

Again, a simple message from Penny. If you want to know what is going on at the park join the Facebook Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/943067839674215

We have no knowledge of an owners app as such but you can access the owners portal by going to https://owners.awayresorts.co.uk/owners-portal/account/login/

Members have complained about lack of communication. Emails will only come from Away Resorts centrally and will deal with pitch fees, electric bills and newsletters.

All local communication will almost certainly only be done by Facebook, so if you have not already done so probably a good idea to join the Facebook Group. Swanage Bay View Owners The Third Place Social. Link here https://www.facebook.com/groups/943067839674215 All owner events run by the park are available on our website and we will continue to send out newsletters if we think there has been a communication sent by Away Resorts that some of you may not have received.

If this is an issue with you then all we can suggest is that you keep lobbying park management. Generally speaking the complaints we have received have been about grass cutting and vegetation management. I believe work to clear vegetation is ongoing but we have not had any updates recently. We noticed at the weekend work has started to cut the grass in each flower sector by rotation.

Loss of sea view.

Most people who have a sea view have paid for it. If you have paid for a sea view and no longer have one or it has been drastically reduced you do have some protection under the Consumer Rights Act. On the website under INFORMATION there is a page titled Help with Complaints. Our suggestion would be to seek professional advice as your rights are protected. It is just a case of how far you want to take this if the park is unable to resolve the problem in an acceptable time frame.

Customer Service.

We have had reports that owners have experienced poor service from staff members. We would suggest that if you have had issues with staff members then try and arrange a meeting with Penny at one of her surgeries. The next one is on Saturday 29^th April.

There have some problems with this where owners have paid for their caravan to be washed down and it hasn’t happened. Apparently, the park is no longer washing down caravans.

Some owners are using products like Wet and Forget to keep their decking and caravans from going green over the winter months. Derek Kilner mentioned that he had started to use this product and for the first time in 11 years he does not need to jet hose his decking. Some members present also mentioned that they had the same results. You can buy Wet and Forget on Amazon for around £34 for a 5-litre container. You just spray it on to your decking and leave it and nature does the rest. There are other products available.

Some owners reported some very bad experiences where they had asked the park to undertake electrical and gas checks. Remember that the park is contracting this service out and whoever they contract to will probably report back to the park and that is where we think things start to go wrong.

Our suggestion is to go to the relevant contractor direct. You do not need to go through the park and there is no financial benefit in going through the park. The most used contractors seem to be Purpeck Heating and Electrical for anything relating to gas and plumbing and A R Harris for electrical work.

This seems to be a perennial problem in so far as soon as the park gets busy, they overflow and emptying twice a week is not enough. We will take up again with the park.

We currently have 137 members. We were at one stage around 200 members. Going through our records it would seem that over the last three years there has been quite a few people who have left the park and new owners have not joined the association.

The aim of the association is to represent the shared views of Caravan Owners who are Members of the Association and to work with Park Management to aid the running and development of the holiday park to the mutual benefit of Caravan Owners and the Park owner.

Apparently the urinals in the gents are going to be replaced.

Rumoured that the lockers in the swimming pool are going to be replaced.

Hedges that are fire hazards we will take up.

Kevan has a list of items to take up with Penny and will report back in due course.

Sandy who is our rep on Buttercup will be leaving  the park in the not too distant future. If anyone is interested in taking up this role please email webmaster@bayviewowners.co.uk and Derek Kilner will contact you with all the information you need.

We will try again this year to see if we can organise a summer event probably at the end of June. However, without the Penny’s support this will be difficult to arrange on the park.

Last year we held the AGM in August as we were unable to organise a spring meeting. This year the AGM will be held in the Autumn and we will advise the date later in the year.

We couldn’t close without thanking Kevan for providing some delicious cake, Lemon Curd and Blueberry, Raspberry and Coconut, Dorset Apple Cake and Chocolate Fudge Cake.