Tenby: Haven Holidays in U-turn after £2k caravan site fee hike

A holiday firm which hiked caravan site fees by thousands of pounds has made a U-turn after it was accused of a lack of transparency and "corporate greed".

Some owners faced paying £2,000 more than last year for caravans at Kiln Park Holiday Park in Pembrokeshire.

It was due to fund developments at the Haven park, including a refurbished bar and new "Adventure Village" attraction.

In an email to customers seen by the BBC, Haven said it would refund increases related to the attraction.

The company said it would postpone development of Adventure Village until 2024 "due to rising construction and material costs".

Customers were being billed an extra £216 annually for the Adventure Village development.

Haven Holidays, which runs the Tenby site, has been asked to comment on the letter, but previously said it had acted with "full transparency" and "clearly communicated" fee rises to owners.

Owners said they were unhappy about being billed for developments at the park, which they would have had to fund on an ongoing annual basis.

The owners, who are also facing a significant increase in fees to cover inflation costs, claim there was a lack of consultation and transparency about the extra charges.

Richard Morgan, from Newport, who has owned a caravan at Kiln Park since 2014, said it would be a "relief" to sell his static caravan because of the costs.

He claimed he was billed an extra £500 for improvements he was not consulted about.

His annual fees, he said, are now almost £1,500 more than last year.

"It'll be a massive relief to think 'I don't have to deal with this nonsense'," Mr Morgan said.

Kiln Park is part of Haven Holidays, owned by Bourne Ltd, and about 60,000 people visit the site each year.

Bourne was recently bought by the world's largest private equity firm, New York-based Blackstone.

Mr Morgan has set up a social media page for owners calling for a fee review, and more than 200 have joined.

"Over the last two years, there have been significant increases attributed to what the park call major developments," he said.

"They refurbished the club house with a new bar, stage and seating, but unfortunately what we weren't aware of was that they were expecting each owner to make a payment towards that."

Mr Morgan said they paid last year and were led to believe that was a one-off.

"The park has added another major development, and the two things combined have added nearly £500 on our bill every year," he said.

"Our fees will be £8,500 excluding gas, electricity, water and non-domestic rates," he said.

Ryan Lovibond, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, bought a caravan for his family in September but is concerned about mounting costs.

"There's been a very large increase of the fees, it's hit us dramatically," he said.

"We weren't told about the developments to be honest, we welcome them, but we'd actually like to have a bit of a say in it - it's gone up by around £600-£700."

Simon Brown, from Cwmbran, in Torfaen, who has two caravans at Kiln Park, is angry at what he claims is a lack of transparency when it comes to billing.

He said he was asked to pay £247 towards a refurbishment of the bar last year, and that he was told it was a "one-off fee".

"We're now expected to pay that fee in perpetuity, they're now developing an adventure land, and without transparency, have told us we'll be paying a fee of £190 [for that].

"It's corporate greed from the top down."

The two developments will add more than £400 to Mr Brown's annual bill, with further charges added to cover inflationary pressures.

Mr Brown said his site fees for one caravan will increase from £7,500 to £9,000, which excludes bills for electricity, gas and other charges, such as non-domestic rates.

He said many owners had lodged complaints, and are willing to take the matter to arbitration. Legal action is being considered.

"There is anger, and I think it is well-founded anger," Mr Brown said.

Cathy Jones, from Cheshire, has had a caravan at the park for eight years and said her annual bill this year is £2,000 more than the site fees last year.

She claimed owners had not been consulted about being charged for improvements.

"It would be nice if they spoke to us, we can't get answers from anybody," Ms Jones said.

"We love the park, we love Tenby, but we just want to be fairly treated and fairly charged."

Haven said it reviewed fees every year.

Speaking before the email to customers emerged, a Haven spokesman said: "Due to rising construction and material costs, we have made the decision to postpone the build of the Adventure Village at Kiln Park until 2024.

"Any site fee increases relating to the Adventure Village will be credited back to owners in the new year before the park opens."