Holiday park reveals £500,000 investment

AN East Devon caravan and camping park has received a major boost with an investment of more than half a million pounds.

And the Franks family, who own Oakdown Holiday Park, near Sidmouth, have plans for further improvements and development in the coming months.

The investment includes the addition of 10 new holiday units at the park, which overlooks the East Devon countryside. These luxurious units are let on a weekly basis - with many guests, some the third or fourth generation of the same family, returning annually.

The family has also installed solar panels, extended the camping area and added two new premier ‘glamping’ pods, in addition to the three that were purchased in 2015 which proved to be very popular.

Alastair Franks runs the park with his parents Doreen and Roger, and wife Andrianna.

He said: ‘We are always looking at ways to improve the park. Everything we do has to be in keeping with this beautiful area that we live in, so we take great care with our development’.

‘As well as this major investment over the last six months or so, we are extending our reception, and looking at the best ways we can continue to deliver the best quality experience for our guests.’

The park is believed to be one of the oldest of its kind, with the first caravan arriving at the family farm more than 60 years ago.

Up until 1951, the fields had been used by touring cyclists and groups of Scouts and Guides for camping trips, when a family friend suggested they could use part of the field to site a caravan and the first static caravan was put in place.

Doreen said: ‘At that time I remember a real enthusiasm developing for this new kind of holiday, which had begun to replace the traditional boarding house holiday. When the Caravan Act was introduced in 1960, I took over the business. I look back at those days now and what we have achieved - but remember that everything we do is about our guests having the best holiday they can.’

Last year they recorded more than 90,000 nights stayed on the park and a return visit rate of 80 per cent - a true reflection of its popularity.