16-05-2025
Licola General Store change in management has locals worried
A single mum who says she spent her life savings reinvigorating an isolated caravan park and general store in Victoria's high country has been ordered to pack up and move out.
A misunderstanding of the fine print in a lease agreement has left Leanne O'Donnelly with an unexpected end of lease at the Licola General Store.
Licola, 254 kilometres east of Melbourne, is unique in that most of the town is owned and managed by the Lions Clubs of Victoria and New South Wales.
While it is only home to a handful of residents, Licola's mountainous and bush surrounds are a popular drawcard for hikers, four-wheel drivers and motorcyclists keen on outdoor adventures.
The Licola Wilderness Village board says the town's caravan park and store will stay under new management.
Ms O'Donnelly said she was shocked when she was handed a 12-month notice to vacate in January and ordered to clear the had moved her family to Licola in 2022 and pictured their future there.
She said she had since updated cabins and formed bonds in the community.
"I sold my house, moved my children here to do this," she said.
Ms O'Donnell thought she had signed a three-term lease, giving her a 12-year tenure.
But she and her lawyer misunderstood a section in the fine print, stipulating that the board could refuse to renew her lease after just one four-year term.
She said she had been told to remove everything including signage which had been in place for more than 50 years.
"Just a lot of disbelief, a lot of sadness," Ms O'Donnell said.
The Lions Club bought land and the facilities in Licola in 1969 for $20,000 and established a camping village opposite the shop, for disadvantaged students.
The Licola Wilderness Village board also manages the lease for the general store and caravan park.
In a statement, the board said the store would not close but would be operated directly by the Lions Club.
"We want to be absolutely clear, the general store and caravan park are not closing," a spokesperson said.
"While our Lions Clubs are proud to fund and support the camps, we cannot continue to subsidise the shop and caravan park, which have been operating at a financial loss to Licola," the spokesperson said.
Ms O'Donnell said the store became a critical hub for residents and authorities during bushfires and floods.
She said she never left motorbike riders stranded.
"We have them rolling in here at nine o'clock at night, and we'll come out, open up the bowsers, do the fuel, put them up in accommodation if they need it," she said.
"Over the summer period it was so awesome to see the locals come together and sit in a space where they could have a beer together and have a chat," Ms O'Donnell said.
"They'd have some dinner, have a snack, and then go back to their farms."
Ms O'Donnell said she was angry and frustrated by a lack of communication from the board.
"If my business is costing a lot of money, why don't they just put the rent up," she said.
"I did ask them that, and they weren't even interested in discussing it.
"I would love to come to some sort of negotiation with them."
Licola resident Ralph Barraclough said the store had never been in a better condition.
"The whole community absolutely adores the place," Ms Barraclough said.
He and other locals protested outside the Lions Club convention in Traralgon earlier this month.
Caravaners Locky and Cindy Byrnes have been visiting the Licola Caravan Park for the past 25 years.
"We come here all the time with the rest of our family," Mr Byrne said.
"Our kids have been coming here since they were babies."
The couple contacted the board about the caravan park's future, but were told there was no information available.
