Caravan and touring / tent sites will be open of course from Monday 12th April. This is about the wifi provision, which is included in the service on our sites. The contractors have now told us that as part of their recently completed service / upgrade the code number for static caravans to gain access to use the system will change from those issued last year.

It’s too late now to send all these out by post before we open but we will have the new code numbers available at the Office for static caravan customers to collect (or phone / email for them). Customers in shorter term visits will be able to collect their code numbers from the Warden as usual.

For owners of static caravans where we’re in charge of the draindowns, the work getting them back on has now been completed. They are left with the incoming taps in the “off” position, so you will need to turn them on in order to make things work.

As from 29th March there is a relaxation in travel arrangements, but do remember that the caravan parks don’t actually open until 12th April.

George and Audrey (the site wardens at The Grange Touring Park, Ormesby) retired at the end of last season of course and the new wardens Luke & Erin who we hope will be with us for some time .

Following the rather wet spring, the ground is quite soft in parts so please be careful about how you drive on the grass. We can help with pull-outs but only during staff hours and even then not always at the drop of a hat.

The site bars won’t be opening on 12th April because they don’t have enough outside capacity to make them reliably viable, so we aim to reopen them with effect from 17th May (when customers can be seated indoors again),

The Council has clarified that the government regulations about the use of communal facilities (toilets, washing up, laundry etc). allow the toilet blocks to be used apart from the showers. So the showers will not be back in use until 17th May. Watch this space for any developments: if we are allowed to open the showers any earlier we will let you know.

23/2/21

NEW OPENING DATE FOR THE CARAVAN PARKS: 12^th APRIL

The prime minister has announced that as part of the 2^nd stage of easing the lockdown self-contained holiday accommodation businesses (like self catering accommodation and caravan parks, and camping/ touring sites) can reopen from 12^th April, so that is what we aim to do.

Also from 12^th April pubs will be permitted to serve customers outside, with further easing in mid-May.  Then it seems “back to normal” on June 21^st.

The “roadmap” announcement gave these dates as “not before”, but they would not be changed unless there is a substantial change in the background situation.

We will contact customers with touring caravan/ tent or holiday bungalow bookings for periods before 12^th April about a refund or a carry forward to a later date.  There is no decision yet about static caravan site-rents as the situation is still fluid. We will put more details on the blog as soon as we can .

The latest on the wifi facility is that we are having extra broadband capacity and more supplementary signal boosters, and this work should be completed by Easter.

However, the Government Public Accounts Committee has reported that the pledge at the last election to introduce countrywide ultrafast broadband by 2025 will not be fulfilled, so although we anticipate slow improvements as BT / Openreach up their game, it doesn’t look as if there will be any “great leap forward.”

The next review of the virus lockdown measures is in mid February, and we hope there will be some news then to confirm details of when the sites can reopen: those dates will be set out here as and when available. In the meantime we only know as much as you.

Our office at Hemsby will be closed over Christmas/ New Year from 5pm Tuesday 22^nd December, reopening 9am on Monday 4^th January.  The phonelines will be answered during this period for general enquiries (but not bookings although these should still go through on the website). The Seadell Bar will not be opening again for a while as we are still in virus tier 2  and we don’t do a “substantial meals” operation.  They do have a separate website Seadell Bar and Jackie the manager is keeping that up to date as regards her opening plans.

Update for 1/11/20

The latest government virus measures mean that we have to close on Thursday 5^th November.  So caravans should not be occupied from then.  We appreciate that it will be necessary for them to be closed for the winter and so the gates will be open and the power left on up to and including Sunday 8^th November.  The Estate Office will be open as well.

Then an update with the wifi.  Infinium have now replaced a couple of transmitters and more work is due. 

The chancellor has now extended the VAT reduction to the end of March, so siterent balances due then will come down to the lower amount mentioned in our recent siterent details letter.  We will be sending an invoice for the final correct figure early next year.”        

We’re working on the details for 2021 at the moment for the static caravan customers. These will be confirmed by letter next month but in the meantime its looking like an opening date of Friday 19th March to Monday 8th November. The dates at The Grange Touring Park will be more limited. Then more important, it’s clear that the siterent figure will actually go down instead of up for a change (due to the temporary reduction in the VAT rate until January). That will certainly be the case for the deposit, and there may well be scope for the balance as well. Details to follow.

We’ve been back open on the parks for a couple of weeks now and the news update is that the siterent refunds (£730) for static caravans where the rent at Easter was paid in full have been processed (this would not apply to those who have purchased a caravan during the lockdown period as their proportionate siterent already took that into account). If you are entitled but haven’t received, then please contact our office so we can look into it.

We’re starting next on the refunds for the static touring vans (on the same basis but at £450 – reflecting the lower rent – and that should be dealt with over the next few days.

Here at the Office we want to express our appreciation that the reaction of you, our customers, has been one of understanding in what has been a difficult time.

Then an interim report on the Wi-Fi provision. The site system was supplied, installed and is maintained by Infinium Ltd, a company that specialises in holiday park systems over the country. Their most recent engineer’s report (in March) was accompanied by maps showing the radius of the various service transmitters, and the whole of the sites are covered. As we now include the Wi-Fi provision as a site service it was important that the system should be up to scratch and Infinium were instructed to do whatever it took to ensure that. As to ourselves, we installed more broadband provision (our local distribution point is at Ormesby, where there were capacity upgrades last year and we took advantage of that). But their fastest speeds here in Norfolk are still lower than in many parts of the country. We should be able to identify if there are any weak points with Infinium, and the service should settle down (BT are our broadband providers and say they have instituted a policy of fairly regular improvements in our locality). We are now monitoring linespeeds on a regular basis at various points on the site which will help us to become aware of any particular weaknesses. But some of the problems clearly relate to the individual technical devices brought along by our customers, and there’s not much we can do in way of assistance with that – apart from reminding you that the first port of call should any problem be encountered is the Infinium Helpline. That is on your code card but if mislaid, its 01253 501655 (8:30am to 6:30om). The out of hours number – when I imagine the service will be rather limited – is 0845 5577288.

We now have the reopening date for holiday sites and that is Saturday 4^th July.  You should receive any siterent refund that is due promptly (provided you have given us your bank details for the transfer). 

As to ongoing anti virus measures the government has issued guidance about this and how far that affects us (it’s not all relevant) but we all need to ensure that proper precautions continue to be taken (proper social distancing, hygiene, enhanced cleaning regime on our part and so on).  There may be a few notices dotted around addressing particular issues, but it mainly boils down to common sense of course.

Then to change the subject, we have had a fairly close association over many years with Gt. Yarmouth Caravan Centre, but they are now planning to close down later this year. This will mean some change in the way we source our sales stock, but naturally we will be carrying the sales side of things on with the minimum of disruption.  Caravans for sale will continue to be on the website and we can attend to any particular requirements.  We’re pleased that Ian Fairbrother from Gt. Yarmouth Caravans is joining us on a part time basis to assist with our general operations.