RAC Tourism awarded the lease of Acclaim Rose Garden Beachside Holiday Park after City of Albany council vote

Permanent residents of an Emu Point caravan park will have eight months to find a new home after Albany council awarded RAC Tourism the lease, though councillors have assured them they won’t be left homeless. Councillors unanimously voted on Tuesday to transfer the lease of Acclaim Rose Garden Beachside Holiday Park from Redwood Corporate Pty Ltd, trading as Acclaim Holiday Park, to the tourism giant. The vacant possession clause in the sale will result in the eviction of the more than 24 people who live in permanent homes at the site. The decision to award the lease was delayed from the April meeting to give the buyers and sellers more time “to be good corporate citizens” and for the city to advocate for a better deal on the residents’ behalf. The new deal involves a month extension of the eviction deadline to January 31, 2026 and allowance for residents to leave their homes “as is” when they leave the park rather than the previous clean slate condition required. They will also receive ex gratia payments of up to $25,000 from Redwood and RAC to help with relocation or finding new accommodation. Cr Robert Sutton said the decision to approve the lease was a “difficult one for everyone involved”. “I think for what we’ve done, we can’t do any more at this point,” he said. “So I think we’ve come to the end of the road here and as sad as it is, as people have to move, we can still keep advocating for them and doing our best. “If we all chip in and keep exploring, we will find a solution, but please don’t think, because we’re voting for it tonight, the story’s finished — it hasn’t.” Deputy mayor Paul Terry labelled the decision the “most difficult” one he’s made in his decade on the council and said he was “fully cognisant” of the stress it had put on the residents. “The harsh reality is that if we decline this lease, Redwood could turn around and do the exact same thing and redevelop the park, and Redwood may not be as accommodating as RAC,” he said. “Between all of us we can help find these people alternative accommodation options.” Of the 24 sites, three are unoccupied, six have requested demolition by RAC, four plan to relocate elsewhere themselves and 11 have not yet decided. Six members of the public spoke against the decision, some being residents of the park, citing concerns that the alternative sites would not be ready by the January 31 deadline and that the ex-gratia payments were not enough.