Ron McLachlan: Resident Advocate
29/08/2017
Ron McLachlan is a former park resident and long time advocate for residents’ rights. He is a member of the Residential Parks Forum and Port Stephens Park Residents Association. We asked Ron to tell us about his life as a park resident and advocate.
Can you give us a potted history of your time as a park resident?
I became a park resident in 2000 when I bought an on-site caravan and annexe in the tourist section of Middle Rock Village, which is at One Mile Beach between Anna Bay and Nelson Bay.
I had a site agreement under the Residential Parks Act 1998 but was surrounded by about 180 vans, almost all of which were long-term casuals. There were 40 permanent homes in another part of Middle Rock Village, separated from the tourist section by a fence and a boom gate.
I had little contact with any of the permanent residents because many of them considered that people who lived in caravans were of lesser quality. I was invited to a fund raising sausage sizzle, where I heard a resident identify me as “He’s from over there, one of those van people.”
I joined a local organisation, Econetwork, where I met Darrell Dawson, a permanent resident in Middle Rock Village. He was one of the people who had started the idea of Park Residents Associations and was part of the campaign that led to the Residential Parks Act 1998 being enacted. With his ‘patronage’, I was accepted by most of the permanent residents as being a suitable person.
When Darrell decided to sell his home and move into town, he asked me if I was interested in taking his place as the President of Port Stephens Park Residents Association (PSPRA). I agreed and was elected as the President, in 2004.
I first appeared as an advocate at a Tribunal hearing in mid 2005 representing the residents of my own park. When the decision was delivered the park manager and his staff subjected me to a daily program of harassment. Eventually I was issued with a termination notice based on a claim that my site was needed for ‘a purpose other than a residential site’. I disputed the notice at the Tribunal arguing that by agreeing to let me sell my van as a ‘weekender’ they were still using the site as a ‘residential site’. The Tribunal Member (and Chairperson) did not accept my contention. I accepted a token amount of compensation, sold the van and vowed never to live in a residential park again.
Tell us about some of your advocacy work
After quitting park life late in 2005 I continued as the President of PSPRA, because I felt that I could use my knowledge of law to try to prevent others being mistreated, as I had been. I was previously an Investigating Officer in the Land Titles Office so I already had a working familiarity with Real Property Law. The Residential Parks Act was different in its purpose, but it was still legislation, so I felt at ease with it.
I have met many other advocates who acquired their legal knowledge, ‘on the job’. My successor at PSPRA is doing just that. Trevor has experience in Human Resources and as a negotiator in industrial disputes and that is what most advocacy comes down to – negotiation.
In 2005 when I represented the residents of Middle Rock, we were challenging a site fee increase and a claim by the park owner that several residents had no legal standing as residents. I summonsed the park owner to attend the second hearing and paid $20 ‘attendance costs’. The park owner wrote to the Residents Committee, claiming his costs were $4,260. I replied and advised that $20 was the amount set down in the District Court’s Procedural Rules.
Tribunal Chairperson Kay Ransome heard the case. The park owner claimed that he had not been paid anything to attend and submitted his claim for $4,260. Ms Ransome pointed out that if he hadn’t been paid or offered any amount to cover his reasonable expenses he was in fact not required to attend. The fact that he did attend was a matter for him, and the applicants were not liable for his expenses.
Over the past 12 years I’ve been involved in a wide variety of matters including terminations, excessive site fee increases, issues with pets, dangerous trees, white ants, subsidence and a lot more. But my main concern has always been protecting park residents from unjust actions by park owners, managers and staff. Although I’ve met many owners and managers who treated their residents fairly and with respect, I often found myself wondering if there’s a college somewhere that teaches people to be unpleasant when dealing with the very people who provide their income. I recall an owner whose response, if a resident disagreed with something he was demanding, was along the lines of “Well, if you don’t like it, you can take yourself and your house out of my park!”
My greatest sense of injustice was felt when the new legislation was passed after three years of campaigning. Even the ridiculous name of the Act, the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act was a downer to many park residents. We certainly felt that the new law favoured owners and managers over residents.
PSPRA members were ever generous, funding three of their Executive Officers to travel here and there, to put residents views to the successive Ministers for Fair Trading. Of the three, only Stewart Ayres actually agreed (when we met him in Maitland) that the new Act had ‘shortcomings’. Three weeks later he was replaced.
Why do you think it's important to have resident advocates?
The best qualification for an advocate is the experience that can only be gained as a resident. Once gained, that experience doesn’t fade away as long as the advocate is actively involved.
I believe that for someone to come in with no understanding of what village life is like, would make their job very difficult.
I challenge anyone to write down just what it’s like, to live in a ‘manufactured home village’, in less than a large book! Although no two villages are identical, when the members of our Association gather we are all on an equal footing. We understand the differences and the similarities between villages. We are collectively unique!
How could an outsider ever fully comprehend how crazy park residents must be to own a home but put it on a piece of land that is rented from someone else?
Throughout our lives, most of us have been members of a variety of communities and organisations – Scouts or Guides, sporting clubs, political parties, churches, environmental groups, etc. In all of them, we went through a gradual process of becoming informed about the purpose, rules, ethics and values that we shared as members. In each of these situations, we would seek advice from those with experience.
What would you say to encourage someone to become a resident advocate?
Have I ever regretted agreeing to be an advocate? The simple answer is no, the complex answer is yes, at times. The good feelings that follow a successful outcome from a Tribunal hearing or a mediation (as we now experience under the Act) are quite special, for the residents and the advocate. Just being able to say to one’s self, “I helped to achieve that” really is a feel good moment.
When the outcome is less successful that’s the time to say to one’s self, “Where could I have done better?” The answer is, mostly, that nothing could have been done better.
An important part of my life experience was as a member of the Scout Association, beginning when I joined as a Wolf Cub, at age 8. Forty years later, when I retired as the ACT Commissioner for Venturers (Scouts over age 15) I was presented with a memento that I treasured. It was a wooden woggle (the thing Scouts wear to keep their neck scarf in place). On it was carved DOB. That’s what Wolf Cubs used to say in a ceremony at every meeting, “we will Do Our Best”.
That’s my advice, for anyone who is thinking of becoming a resident advocate. If we ‘Do Our Best’, we have no reason to feel that we could have done better. But what we can then do, as a result of that experience, is to do better, next time.
Finally, new advocates have access to the vast experience that is held in the minds of all the other advocates. There are regular Forums, where information is exchanged and there is the great work done by Ms Julie Lee of the Tenants’ Union.