History

During the 40's and 50's, caravan sites were generally little more than just a field with a chemical toilet block in the corner, so it's not all surprising that many Local Authorities were strongly anti-caravans. In this climate it was a great achievement that a five year planning permission for 20 acres known as "Pidney's Marsh" was granted for the use of caravans.

 

Douglas Bunn's father had originally bought this land principally for horses to graze. It was ideally suited for this purpose as it was wetland. Douglas purchased this land from his father and experts were called and the land perfectly drained.

 

Work started in the Autumn of 1958; the shop, office and Club House were built in 1959.

 

What was Pidney's Marsh had become The White Horse Caravan Park.

 

At the same time Douglas bought a large area of camping land, then called Mill Farm, with it's mile of foreshore on The Solent. The purchase was completed in mid May 1959 and Mill Farm was promptly renamed West Sands to create the seaside holiday image for which it was intended.

 

Additional land was purchased to make way for expansion, and Green Lawns, an already established Holiday Park, was purchased in 1968.

 

Bunn Leisure grew throughout the 70's and was one of
the countries pace setters.

 

The programme to introduce mains drainage and electrical supply to each caravan started in the early seventies, and was completed in 1995 with the last areas now known as Nab Tower, Bream Close, Deer Park and Sandy Point that form the heart of West Sands.

 

West Sands is the second largest Caravan Holiday Park in Europe, and the group of 4 Parks in Selsey is the largest. On a busy peak season weekend we can accommodate in excess of 12,500 people.

Bunn leisure employs over 300 full time staff and up to 300 additional staff in the season. The whole operation generates over £54m for the local economy.

 

Over the years we have spared no expense in building and improving the parks and their amenities. Both the Waterfront Complex, built for the Millennium, and the Oasis Leisure Centre, our fantastic swimming pool and fitness complex bear testament to this.

 

We will carry on doing this and still have some mouth-watering plans for the future.