For Sale Pampas Lodge Caravan and Camping Park The Street Haddiscoe Norwich Norfolk NR14 6AA November 2016
gva.co.uk/10315
Summary A well established holiday static and touring park with excellent profitable sales’ and other potential in the Norfolk Broads National Park • Site licence and planning consent for 6 holiday static caravans/lodges (one may be used by an owner/employee/warden, 41 touring pitches and 10 tent pitches all with 12 months’ use. • Currently operated with 33 seasonal pitches (1 vacant at the end of 2016 season), all with metered electric and water points, 4 static pitches (3 in hand and 1 privately owned unit on annual licence)and 1 twin lodge which may be used for residential purposes in connection with the management of the park. In addition there is a central area of grass with hook-ups for the remaining touring and tenting pitches • Facilities building with male, female and disabled facilities and pot wash/tourist information room • Workshop and machinery storage • 3 bedroom lodge unit with balcony and 3 hire fleet caravans • Well located in the Waveney Valley • In all about 0.795 hectares / 1.963 acres of mature grounds • For sale freehold as a going concern Offers invited in the region of £595,000
Pampas Lodge Caravan and Camping Park, The Street, Haddiscoe, Norwich, Norfolk NR14 6AA
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Background and the Opportunity
Location
The vendors purchased Pampas Lodge Caravan and Camping Park in 1998 as a semi-retirement business and have over the years carefully developed the business into a site mainly for seasonal touring caravans with a small letting fleet of holiday static caravans and 1 private owner.
The property is located on the north-eastern edge of the village of Haddiscoe which lies on the A143 between the local centres of Beccles and Bungay to the south and Great Yarmouth to the north. The property is approached directly off the A143 via a separate access which lies beside the car park to a public house and there is a further pedestrian access to Low Road, a minor road leading off the A143. Haddiscoe lies within the southern section of the Norfolk Broads National Park, known as the Waveney Valley, and the area is generally a renowned tourist location. The centre of Norwich is approximately 17 miles to the north-west with the more local centre of Beccles being 6 miles to the south. Other local centres within 10 miles of the property include Bungay to south-west, Lowestoft to the east and Great Yarmouth to the north-east. Central London is approximately 130 miles to the south-east.
The letting fleet has been operated by a relative on an informal agreement at a low annual pitch fee and this arrangement will cease on completion of the sale with the static caravans held in hand. This provides an immediate opportunity for a new owner to benefit from profitable new sales or to update the letting fleet. In 2014, the vendors applied for a planning consent to convert a lodge to make a warden’s/ manager’s dwelling and received consent at appeal in late 2015 for this use which creates an independent unit. The vendors are seeking to retire from the business.
beaches. In addition, there is boating on the Norfolk Broads which covers a wide area of navigable waterways based around 3 rivers, all without locks and there are several day boat outlets within a few miles of the property together with nature reserves in the area. Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft both have theatres, piers and other leisure facilities.
Communications are reasonably good with access within a few miles to the A12 from Great Yarmouth to London and to the A47 trunk route to Kings Lynn and beyond to the Midlands and North. There is a railway station at Haddiscoe which leads between Lowestoft and Norwich from where fast services are available to London and elsewhere. Norwich has a regional airport with a schedule of national and international flights.
Tourist attractions in the area include Somerleyton Hall and Fritton Lakes, Pleasurewood Hills Theme Park, Africa Alive!, The Sealife Centre and a large number of museums and coastal
Pampas Lodge Caravan and Camping Park, The Street, Haddiscoe, Norwich, Norfolk NR14 6AA
gva.co.uk/10315
Description Pampas Lodge Caravanning and Camping Park lies on the north-eastern outskirts of the village of Haddiscoe which has 2 pubs and a population of about 500 (2011 Census). It lies close to the River Waveney which runs to the north and east of the village. The park is approached directly off the A143 and stands in approximately 2 acres of mature landscaped grounds which partially lie behind one of the two pubs in the village and residential development. The park is well established and comprises an all year round park which has consent for 6 holiday static caravans (5 sited including a warden’s/owners twin lodge), 33 seasonal touring pitches with hard standings (1 currently vacant), 8 further grassland touring pitches and 10 tenting pitches. The pitches are laid out in separate areas with hedges and trees dividing the park into smaller areas. There is also a deemed consent to convert the existing facilities building to three disabled holiday accommodation units, albeit that this consent has now been superseded by the conversion of the majority of this building to WC and shower facilities for use in connection with the touring and tenting pitches. There is also a lapsed planning consent for a new toilet/shower block with a shop adjacent to the entry
road close to the main road(A143). There is an open recreation area on the site which may be used for tents / casual overnight tourers but is currently largely unused for this purpose as the vendors have chosen not to advertise the site for casual visitors in recent years. In addition to the twin lodge unit, 4 static caravans currently occupy the pitches, 3 of which have been used as a letting fleet by the vendor’s family. The final static pitch is occupied by a privately owned caravan on an annual licence basis and this unit can be bought back on giving the requisite notice. The twin lodge unit on site, which has a residential use for an owner / manager / warden on the park, occupies two former single pitches. It was developed on site as a caravan and is recognised by the Local Authority as fulfilling the legal definition of a caravan. This lodge unit, known as Park Glen, has a deck around 3 sides and measures approx 50 sq.m. The accommodation has been developed to a high standard and includes a hallway, open plan living area with fitted kitchen incorporating wall and floor units with work tops and incorporating dishwasher, fridge, sink, oven and hob units. In addition there is a breakfast bar and
Pampas Lodge Caravan and Camping Park, The Street, Haddiscoe, Norwich, Norfolk NR14 6AA
a door onto the outdoor deck. Utility room with washing and drying machines, a sink unit and water softener. There are 3 bedrooms, one single, a double and the master bedroom with an en suite shower room and walk-in cupboard. Finally there is a fully fitted family bathroom. The vendors have lived in the lodge for a number of seasons and have developed it to a high standard with good quality insulation. In the north-eastern corner of the property there is a facilities’ building which currently comprises a workshop/store, ladies facilities (6 WCs, 4 shower cubicles with wash hand basins and 1 further wash hand basin) and gentlemen’s facilities (5 WCs, 4 showers cubicles with wash basins, 2 urinals and a wash hand basin). There is access to a separate disabled WC and shower room with wash hand basin via an indoor wash-up facility with 2 sinks and tourist information. In addition, there is a plant room with water softener and two Rennai hot water boilers. Beside this building there is a separate garage for the storage of machinery.
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The vendors supply a small amount of gas bottles to the caravan owners and do not otherwise advertise the remaining pitches, relying on a very few bookings from a few regular customers. This naturally represents an opportunity for a new owner.
Services
The Business
The property is connected to the following services:-
The existing business is well established and until recently has been operated entirely in hand by the vendors who have chosen to operate the park for a limited season from Easter until the end of October only, despite the planning consent for all year round use. An injury to the vendors about 3 years ago meant that the vendors have had to rely more and more on contractors to do the heavy maintenance work on the park. In addition, the vendors have ceased to advertise the business for the last 7 years at least and operate almost entirely with seasonal caravans and practically no casual touring caravan and camping use. In addition, they have allowed a member of their family to operate a hire fleet of static caravans as a separate business which will cease on the completion of this sale.
Mains Water – metered to the property. Each seasonal and static pitch has its own direct supply of water. Drainage is to a private system which is partially based on soak-aways to the surrounding dyke which forms the boundary of the property and a separate sewage treatment plant (covered under the E.A. rules for small sewage discharges scheme) (SSDs) which discharges into the dyke. There is a separate septic tank for use in connection with the Elsan chemical disposal point. Mains electricity– metered to the site with each static and seasonal tourer pitch (all with 16 amps supply) metered with caravan owners charged according to use. There are additional hook-up points for casual tourers and camping pitches on the open area of the site comprising 4 stands with 4 x16 amp outlet at each corner of the touring field and two bank of 2x16 amp outlets adjacent to the rear lay-by’s on the road behind the static’s suitable for motor homes. The lodge has a 64amp mains feed. Heating and hot water – Park Glen (the lodge) has an electric heating and hot water system. Large portable LPG cylinders are used for the hot water heating system in the facilities building.
The main focus of the existing business is the seasonal tourers which the vendors have carefully built-up over many years with a good following of mainly retired people and good demand for pitches. The existing annual licence fees vary in the main from £950 - £1,250 (depending on size and loyalty) exclusive of metered electricity with one at a lower price of £600 and a further pitch occupied for storage at £250. The static caravans are charged at £1,250 pitch fee exclusive of electrical services & LPG.
Turnover from the business has been in the region of £30,000 - £35,000 per annum over the last 3 years which generates an EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) in the order of £10,000. The vendors estimate that this could be substantially increased and it is only their own desire for an easier management life that the park trades at a low level. In addition the vendors have necessarily been employing contactors to do the heavier work which would not normally occur. Furthermore, the existing park excludes the letting income from the hire fleet of caravans with only a low pitch fee being received for these units. The vendor estimates that profit for the current year will increase by a good level as he has become fitter to carry out the work on the park following a knee replacement. There is also potential to profit from the sale of static caravans/twin lodges and potential going forward to exchange touring pitches for the more valuable holiday statics, subject to planning.
Planning, site licence and licences Planning consent is fully in place for the use of the property for all year round use and there is an outstanding deemed planning consent to convert the facilities building to 3, one bedroom disabled holiday units in place of the existing facilities. There is also a lapsed planning consent for a new toilet/shower block with shop adjacent to the entry road. The park’s planning consent, allows for 23 touring caravans and 18 seasonal tourers but as their are no condition laid down in the planning consent no distinction can be made between tourers and seasonal tourers Hence the total number of seasonal touring caravans could be increased to 41. The vendors have recently received consent to use the lodge or a pitch for a residential purposes and this use is tied to the management of the park business. The property has a valid site licence which reflects the current planning.
Over the years of their ownership, the vendors have re-laid mains water, drainage and electrical (16 amps) services around the park and the park has an up to date electrical certificate. Pampas Lodge Caravan and Camping Park, The Street, Haddiscoe, Norwich, Norfolk NR14 6AA
gva.co.uk/10315
Outgoings
Terms of Sale
The property has a rateable value of £5,950 and £5,925 under the revaluation for 2017. There are currently no commercial rates payable for the property due to the low rateable value and reliefs available.
The property is offered for sale freehold as a going concern to include the lodge unit, letting fleet of caravans and an inventory of trade fixtures, fittings and effects. Any stock is available at valuation on completion.
Tenure The property is held freehold subject to a standard caravan licence in respect of the single privately owned static caravan which may be terminated and on annual agreements which renew in April for the seasonal caravans. At present the vendors only allow use of the caravans from Easter to the end of October but they have planning for all year round use on the park. As a result, the tourers remain in situ over the winter period. There is vehicular entrance from The Street (A143) and a pedestrian access off Low Road into the park
The vendors also own the public House (The Tavern) and a house which front onto The Street beside the park and have their own accesses and parking. The public house is let to a private operator by the vendors and they live in the house. The vendors also own a small area of land which is not connected to the park. They would prefer to retain their ownership of these areas but would be willing to discuss terms for them in the event that a purchaser wanted in particular to buy any part.
Pampas Lodge Caravan and Camping Park, The Street, Haddiscoe, Norwich, Norfolk NR14 6AA
Viewing, Further Information and Directions Viewing of the property is strictly by appointment through GVA Retail, Hotels and Leisure. To book an appointment, please contact John Mitchell BSc MRICS. Prior to making an appointment to inspect the property, it is firmly recommended that interested parties satisfy themselves with regard to the particulars of sale set out above and status of the sale in order that they do not make a wasted journey to the property. An information pack to include site licence, planning documents and recent accounts for the business has been prepared and will be sent to interested parties on request. Directions: The property is located directly off the A143 and lies on the northern outskirts of the village of Haddiscoe. The post code is NR14 6AA.
gva.co.uk/10315
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For further information or an appointment to view, please contact: John C Mitchell BSc MRICS 020 7911 2489
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