Not everyone in Bogangar is against the proposed caravan park. according to Cabarita Business Association Executive member Brent Hayward.
“There are people in favour of the proposal – a lot of people and businesses want it to go ahead,” he said.
“It is disappointing that all the focus is on the negative – it makes it look like no one wants it, but that is not the case.
“We just want some positive feedback, not all the gloom and doom.”
He said the Business Association believed the caravan park would provide what was missing in the area – affordable accommodation for families and would be good for the local business community and provide much-needed job opportunities for local kids.
Mr Hayward said they just wanted to see some of the “mis-information” currently in the community addressed. He said some people thought the park would be built in the sand dunes, but it would be more than 100m back and there would be increased walkways and patrolled beaches at peak holiday times.
He said local business owners were worried about the future.
Mr Hayward said, in the past three to four years, a large number of local businesses had disappeared, including the local backpackers and the only motel in the middle of the town, robbing the village of its affordable family-style accommodation. They had not been the only casualties, with the petrol station, bakery, fruit shop, ACE Homes and a couple of Real Estate agencies also amongst those lost.
“The town has to grow,” he said, adding, you couldn’t just “shut up shop and not allow further development”.
“We don’t want to see high rise, we don’t want Cabarita to become like the Gold Coast, we just want some affordable accommodation to encourage families to visit.”
He said many of the Business Association members were also member of the residents’ association and didn’t want their community divided, they just wanted to find “the happy medium”.
