Fair Trading Minister, Virginia Judge, and Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Wyong, David Harris, today announced a pilot mediation service for residential parks in the Central Coast region.

“NSW Fair Trading has a long history of offering successful mediation services to consumers and traders so this is great news for the local community,” said Ms Judge.

“People living in NSW’s residential parks – such as caravan parks and mobile home villages – currently need to apply to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) when they find themselves in dispute,” she said.

“The trial will test whether a mediation service can help divert disagreements away from the Tribunal process and settle them with the help of experienced mediators.”

Mr Harris said the CTTT received 1345 applications in its Residential Parks division in 2009/10.

“This is about giving residents an open and supportive forum to help them solve their grievances,” he said.

“Most of the disputes lodged were over rent increases, breaches of the Residential Parks Act 1998, compensation and termination matters.

“Mediation has been very useful for people living in strata and other communities facing similar situations so far.

“In the 2009/2010 year the Fair Trading MSU resolved 542 of 714 strata disputes through mediation and case management – that’s a 76 percent success rate.

“We expect people living in, and managing, residential parks will also see the benefits of settling disputes in this way.”

Specialists with expert experience in strata mediations from the Fair Trading Mediation Services Unit (MSU) will be managing the pilot.

To participate, contact 4320 0600.

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