Ongoing complaints regarding the Clyde Holiday Park and Sports Complex have been the source of ongoing correspondence to the Otago Daily Times and the council since the start of the year.
In an open letter published in The News yesterday Central Otago District Council chief executive Sanchia Jacobs addressed the issue in an open letter.
"I was disappointed to be notified of a number of complaints in January by some visitors to the holiday park whose stay did not meet their expectations."
It was now March and the complainants were still not happy, so Ms Jacobs made a point of clarifying the council’s position.
"Because CODC owns the camp ground, people have naturally directed complaints to us and expected us to follow them up.
"This is an entirely reasonable expectation, but not necessarily one we can meet."
The letter was to explain how the relationships worked, she said.
In it, she said the council’s commercial lease with Clyde Holiday Park Limited, a company set up by Gary and Roslyn Ryan in 2019, was granted after an open tender process.
It was a commercial agreement and at "arm’s length", Ms Jacobs said.
"[The] council, in its capacity as landlord, is limited to the rights and obligations set out in the lease and is limited to the extent which it can interfere in daily operation matters at the holiday park."
The existing arrangement could be debated but that did not change it, she said.
"The best outcome is when we work with the community and the holiday park to resolve any issues when they come up."
A complaints procedure to be overseen by the council had been introduced at the camp.
This was due to what the council and community board members earlier labelled "communication issues" and followed multiple complaints regarding evictions from the camp and ongoing issues with bookings that were declined.
Campers, sometimes multi-generational and displaced by the actions of the Ryans, said they had received email responses to their complaints from the council, but vowed to keep fighting and said the terms of the lease should be made public.
Sports clubs had also had closed-door meetings with the council to speak about separate concerns surrounding access to facilities in the reserve the holiday park is part of, which were being addressed.
