Good news and Bad news….

I am sorry that it has been a few days since I last wrote a few lines in my blog – over a month!!

I seem to always give the excuse that I have been busy but it is really true on this occasion.

Shortly after completing the entry on 18th March, I left for the EFCO meeting in Helsinki which proved to be a very good general assembly and afterwards we had a very enjoyable couple of days off in Finland including a day trip to Tallinn in Estonia. The meeting covered many interesting topics including the proposed European Quality Label which is currently entering its consultation stage.

During the second day of the EFCO meeting we heard the bad news about the Chancellors budget speech and his proposal to introduce VAT on static caravan holiday homes. The industry has been slowly adjusting to the impacts of the recession and now we have to deal with a potential 30% drop in demand for new homes – a major worry for parks through the UK and the people of Hull and East Yorkshire where the majority of Caravans are manufactured.

On the bright side the photo shows that we have eventually managed to open our coffee area in the Highlands End Shop and the spectacular view is already proving to be very popular.

Early in April I attended a meeting to hear all about the Localism Act and how it will affect local decisions and during the same week I had the opportunity to show our local Councillors around Highlands End to explain our proposals to extend the park into a small area adjacent to the golf course which will enable us to have larger and more comfortable hire caravans. I am pleased to say that the Council decided that they had no objections to the plan and their main concern was the idea to stay open all year round which we have noted and will look at.

Lots more has happened which I must skip over for now. I must try to have more regular and shorter entries.