NINETEEN residents are to lose their homes following the sale of the fourth caravan park in Port Macquarie in four years.

Melaleuca Caravan Park in Hastings River Dve is likely to become a retail outlet.

The site's new owners, Central Coast-based Stevens Group, said they were not surprised residents ? some of whom have lived in the park for almost 30 years ? were upset by the sale. But they hoped to come to mutually acceptable arrangements.

The Melaleuca sale follows that Centreport Caravan Park in Gore St about a year ago. It is still operating, temporarily.

Taskers Residential Village at Flynns Beach was sold about four years ago but is still operating as negotiations continue with residents.

And the Mid Pacific Caravan Park site on the Oxley Hwy was sold to Coles in late 2004.

Melaleuca's new owners hope the 1.6ha site will become a bulky goods retail outlet.

The purchaser, Erina-based Stevens Group's senior development manager Brett Harrod, said his company already had contacted the park residents' association and had written to the 19 permanent residents to organise discussions with them next week.

His company had exchanged contracts on the site before Christmas, expected to settle next month and had "a couple of years' horizon" to relocate everybody in a timely manner.

The Stevens Group spokesman said he realised it was dealing with people's homes and that the process was inevitably going to be emotional but, until there were face-to-face meetings, he and his staff were unsure what the tenants' individual needs were.

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