Fire damage fails to dampen the sale of campground and community facilities

The northernmost commercial camping ground and restaurant in New Zealand is on the market for sale – just a week after its general store and petrol station were badly damaged by fire.

The Waitiki Holiday Park some 20 kilometres from Cape Reinga is not only the last commercial accommodation and hospitality provider before the lighthouse, but also serves the general community and Department of Conservation personnel in the surrounding sparsely populated rural countryside.

Business activities associated with the wider holiday park include a fully licensed restaurant and bar serving a-la-carte and takeaway meals, a three-pump petrol station, a convenience and general supplies store, café, laundromat, accommodation block, and grassed sites for both campervans and tents.

The holiday park’s petrol station and corner store which operated jointly out of a large rectangular aluminium garage-like building were damaged beyond repair by fire earlier this month. However, the rest of the campground activities were left totally unscathed and are continuing as normal.

The fire coincided with the business being placed on the sale through Bayleys Real Estate with an asking price of $670,000. Far North sales specialist for Bayleys, Alan Broadbent, said the business’s owners were remaining committed to the sale process – although it had added a distraction to what would otherwise have been a fairly straightforward procedure.

“The petrol pump amenities, the building which housed the general store and service station, and the store’s stock, were all fully insured. There will be a rebuilding of the infrastructure, so this is a perfect opportunity for any new owners of the Waitiki Holiday Park to be involved in how the new store and service station area could look,” Mr Broadbent said.

“Any new owner with a particular vision on what additional services or features which could be run out of the site, will be in a prime position to put forward those thoughts to the insurance company as the rebuilding process moves forward.”

Mr Broadbent said the Waitiki Holiday Park operators had already initiated a business continuance plan for the general store – restocking essential items in the restaurant area which was well away from the blaze which destroyed the service station and store.

He said the Waitiki Holiday Park was in a fortunate position to derive revenues from multiple different commercial activities – all of which were part of the sale package.

Accommodation facilities at the park include 16 cabins with their own ensuite bathrooms and toilets; a backpacker block sleeping up to 10 people in either two or three bedroom dormitories with access to a communal kitchen; scores of tent sites; and 12 powered camping sites. 

Meanwhile, the licensed 50-seater bar and café on the site has a diverse range of target customer markets – including locals throughout the remote northern tip of the country, guests staying at the camping ground and cabins, and the substantial passing traffic of tourists heading in both directions Cape Reinga lighthouse.

Transit New Zealand last year completed sealing the last stretch of road between Waitiki Landing and Cape Reinga – with some 1300 vehicles travelling past the settlement every day during the busy summer period. The road is known as one of the most winding in New Zealand – with more than 100 curves. As the northernmost petrol station on the sealed route in and out of Cape Reinga, Waitiki Landing’s café and store had a captive market.

The nearest petrol pumps are now at the Houhora Service Station, 50 kilometres to the south. However, the Houhora Service Station is due to close at the end of the month – meaning that for people living or working at Cape Reinga or nearby Te Hapua, the nearest fuel pumps will be nearly 100 kilometres away at Awanui.

Waitiki Holiday Park co-owner Carl Pascoe said his company would work closely with potential buyers of the business to ensure they were part of the insurance claim and subsequent rebuilding process.

“The community support and feedback that flooded in over the hours and days since the fire has been enormous, and shows the close-knit community spirit of those living and working in the Far North,” Mr Pascoe said.

“The people of Waitiki, Te Paki and Te Hapua are very resourceful - you have to be, living in these sort of remote locations - and together we’ll be thinking of how to keep things going until the pumps are reinstated and the general store re-opens. One thing is for sure though, we’ll be having a bit of a party when they do.”

Mr Broadbent said that while Bayleys’ marketing of the Waitiki Holiday Park had commenced, he expected the sale process could take several months to complete as a result of extended due diligence procedures, resource consent applications and the rebuilding process.

“This could motivate potential buyers to have a lengthy settlement period inserted into any sale and purchase contract. Such terms are common, although not usually for the sort of circumstances we are dealing with here,” Mr Broadbent said.