An Aussie waterpark that made national headlines for a side hustle storing thousands of new cars without permission has applied to make the arrangement permanent.
Jamberoo Action Park, a recreational facility near Wollongong in NSW, was busted with thousands of electric and hybrid cars in its car park during its off-peak winter period last year.
The facility did not have local government permission to operate as a transport depot involving large truck and trailers moving new cars in and out of its carparks.
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News Corp Australia made the arrangement public last year with a story recognised as the “Scoop of the Year” at the automotive media industry’s Newspress Awards.
The park applied to legalise its vehicle holding yard operation with a development application submitted to Kiama Council, the local government rejected in October.
The council disputed Jamberoo’s categorisation of the land as a “car park” and found it would more accurately be categorised as a transport depot.
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It said “the site is not considered suitable for the proposed development” and that “the proposal is not considered to be in the public interest”.
The council told us last year that it warned Jamberoo to stop using its land to store thousands of new vehicles without permission, by issuing an “Order to Comply” to the action park.
Frustrated residents said that the “car graveyard” was “creepy” compared with the park’s usual activity.
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Jamberoo initially stored new and unregistered vehicles on behalf of BYD and its Australian importer during its off-peak period in cooler months.
A new development application aims to make the carparking arrangement a permanent, year-round affair.
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Documents submitted to Kiama Council this year argue it is “irrelevant as to whether the use is by visitors to the park or for parking of vehicles”, and that it is operating as a car park, not a transport depot.
The park says its annual attendance has dropped by around 50,000 people per year and that it could use more than 1000 car spaces to store vehicles on behalf of importers “whilst still leaving 1800 car spaces to facilitate normal Jamberoo Action Park operations”.
A maximum of 30 trucks would access the facility each day.
During busy periods, such as summer days when school groups use the venue, trucks would only be allowed to access the park before it has opened to the public, or after the park has closed.
