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Bosses of a holiday park on the Isle of Sheppey have spent £1 million preparing for an expected boost in demand for post-lockdown staycations.
Lovat Parks, which bought Golden Leas in Bell Farm Lane, Minster, in 2018, has invested in two new outdoor play areas and a gym.
It has created an 11-plot development called Humming Bird on the 22-acre site with its own road and is also planning a new entrance to welcome visitors from Plough Lane by the end of May.
General manager Jo Treadgold said: “It will allow a one-way system in and out of the park so it should ease traffic in Bell Farm Lane.”
A new reception and sales area will be built at the entrance. The existing one in Bell Farm Lane will be transformed into a “hang-out” for teenagers with a pool table.
Jo said: “It’s only right they have a place of their own.”
A former skateboard park has been taken down to make way for a multi-use games area for football and basketball. Jo said: “We still have the ramps and are happy to give them away to any community group which can make use of them.”
The heated open-air pool has been given a makeover with an enlarged outside drinking and dining area with a heated patio.
Live entertainers set up at the “beach hut” until they are allowed back inside when lockdown restrictions are eased. The children’s play area now boasts a giant slide.
The park shop has been turned into a £15,000 gym, free for caravan owners, and the clubhouse has received a revamp with a new bar and bistro area.
Jo said: “The bar has had a fantastic makeover. It was very old-fashioned with red bricks and no central heating. There has been a complete transformation.”
It now has a giant 86-inch TV screen on the wall. There is even a new entertainment system with projector and screen to provide bingo and horse-racing nights.
What holidaymakers won’t see are brand new power and water supplies hidden underground. Jo said: “In a way it is shame they are out of sight but it was important they were updated. A lot of things go on behind the scenes people just don’t see.”
One thing they will notice is a new heart defibrillator on the clubhouse wall. She said: “We felt it was important to have one."
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