For more than three years Julie Funnel and her husband Stephen have faced the prospect of losing their home in a caravan park at Windang on the picturesque Lake Illawarra in New South Wales.
The couple, along with 42 other home owners in the Oasis Village caravan park, were issued with eviction orders by the new owner S & Q Asset and its chief representative David Wei in 2019.
Mrs Funnel's husband was diagnosed with cancer eight weeks ago and despite his health concerns, she said he was more worried about her future.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) ruled the order and three subsequent attempts to evict the residents were invalid.
But the turmoil has taken its toll on the residents.
"This has taken years off my life," Mrs Funnel said.
"We're Australians. We have worked hard all our lives; we have paid taxes.
"We sold our homes and moved here to downsize, and we should not have overseas investors coming in treating ordinary, everyday, older citizens of Australia like this."
The Affiliated Residential Park Residents Association Incorporated (ARPRA) has represented and supported the residents in the court process.
Its chief executive Gary Martin said the association believed the new owners wanted the site between Lake Illawarra and a golf course for another reason.
"We think the ulterior plan was to target the elderly, to remove them from their homes by placing them under so much stress and duress that they would eventually walk away," Mr Martin said.
Further complicating the situation, the park did not have a licence to operate from Wollongong Council when S & Q Asset purchased the operation.
Councillor Ann Martin said the licence had lapsed because of maintenance.
"We require this licence under the Local Government Act," she said.
"It covers things like fire hydrants in the park, an evacuation plan and the owner is looking for every excuse not to comply."
Gary Martin said problems at the park had become very serious.
"At one stage the sewerage system failed, and he would not open up the adjoining motel for residents to use the toilet facilities," she said.
"The residents themselves went to the local Kathmandu camping store to buy porta-potties so they actually had sanitation."
Mr Martin said the operator's failure to improve onsite maintenance had led NCAT to create a trust to administer fees collected to improve the property.
He said the operator's failure to comply with the orders from NCAT had led ARPRA to apply to refer the matter for contempt to the Supreme Court of NSW.
Calls for an administrator
Wollongong MP Paul Scully used parliament to call on the NSW government to protect the residents.
"He appears to have plans to redevelop Oasis Village into a luxury golf course on the foreshore of Lake Illawarra at Windang.
"Given the continued belligerence of S&Q Asset and Mr Wei, and the contempt shown for the NCAT orders, I believe it is now time for the NSW government to join in support of ARPRA's efforts."
Mr Scully said he is calling for further action.
"To order the appointment of an administrator to exercise all the functions of the operator of Oasis Village."
Mr Martin said an administrator is essential.
"An administrator would go in and run the community like it should be."
An investigator appointed
In a statement, Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos said the government was responding.
The report is due by the end of April.
"The report will help determine whether an application should be sought in the NSW Supreme Court to appoint an administrator," Ms Petinos said.
"I respect the process that is in place and await the completion of the investigation before considering any next steps."
Operator rejects claims of bullying
S & Q Asset director David Wei has denied threatening or bullying the residents.
"We acknowledge that the tenants are distressed. However, we legally have no choice but to evict the tenants."
Mr Wei said at the time of purchase he was led to believe there were no issues with licensing of the park.
"The tenants who are distressed and inconvenienced now should be asking themselves why the council allowed them to make Oasis Park their home if it's not safe to live there, why the council didn't tell the tenants about the safety problems, and why the council didn't shut down the park over a decade ago when they decided it was unsafe and not fit to be licensed."
Mr Wei said he has only issued one eviction notice and also disputed that the creation of the trust was recognition of mismanagement of the park.
He said he welcomed the investigation and was actively cooperating with the investigator.
However, he did not agree with calls for an administrator to be appointed.
"Putting the park into administration will not solve the underlying problem – which is that the premises cannot be licensed for use as a caravan park without rebuilding it and evicting the tenants in the process."
He also rejected the assertion it was his intention to rezone the land to redevelop the site into a "luxury golf course".
