North Yorkshire Council
Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee
3 October 2024
Receipt of Petition against the Proposed Ban of Motorhome Overnight Parking in Locations in Scarborough
Report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services)
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 To advise of a petition containing more than 500 signatures.
1.2 To ask the Area Committee to consider a response.
2.0 THE PETITION
2.1 A paper petition has been received by North Yorkshire Council. The total number of signatories on the petition is 1128. Although a proportion of these are invalid since they do not live, work or study in North Yorkshire and surrounding areas, the number of valid signatories exceeds 500. This means that in accordance with the petitions scheme, the petition is referred to the next meeting of the relevant area committee for consideration.
2.2 The petition reads as follows:
Please do not ban campers from parking up overnight on Royal Albert Drive. The local businesses of this town need their trade.
If you push them out of town then they will either avoid Scarborough altogether or spend less time and less money in the town and on the seafront.
Turn parts of Royal Albert Drive into an Aire and charge a modest amount per night up to let's say 3 nights at a time.
Enforce a ban on tents, fires, bbqs etc as they obviously belong on a camp site. And make the parking accessible for decent sized campers and RVs.
As a Council it’s noted that you installed chemical toilet facilities at the public toilets on Royal Albert Drive, so we would presume this was to encourage RVs and campers to stay.
2.3 Link to petition
3.0 THE COUNCIL’S ARRANGEMENTS FOR RECEIVING AND RESPONDING TO PETITIONS
3.1 The key features of the council’s arrangements for receiving and debating petitions, as published on the council’s website, are as follows:
· Receipt of the petition is published on the council’s website (which has been done in the case of this petition).
· If a petition contains 500 or more signatures (but less than 30,130 signatories), it will be scheduled for debate at the next meeting of the appropriate area committee.
· The petition organiser is offered the opportunity to speak for five minutes at the area committee meeting to present his/her petition. Subsequently, at the meeting, the petition will be discussed by councillors for a maximum of 15 minutes and a decision will be made on how to respond to the petition.
· Possible responses by the council to petitions, as shown on the website, are:
(a) to take the action requested by the petition;
(b) not to take the action requested for reasons put forward in the debate;
(c) to commission further investigation into the matter, for example by a relevant committee; or
(d) where the issue is one on which the council Executive is required to make the final decision, the council will decide whether to make recommendations to inform that decision.
· The petition organiser will receive written confirmation of this decision. This confirmation will also be published on the website.
3.2 The petition organiser has confirmed that he is unavailable to attend this meeting to present his petition.
4.0 HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION SERVICES OFFICERS’ COMMENTS REGARDING THE PETITION
Please do not ban campers from parking up overnight on Royal Albert Drive. The local businesses of this town need their trade.
If you push them out of town then they will either avoid Scarborough altogether or spend less time and less money in the town and on the seafront.
4.1 All highway aspects pertaining to the overnight parking of motor caravans were considered in a report to the Corporate Director Environment and Executive Member for Highways and Transportation on 9 August 2024. The report can be found here:
4.2 The issues and complaints received by the council, police and fire authorities were weighed up and a decision was taken to proceed with an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order, trialling a prohibition of overnight parking by motorhomes at three locations, Sandsend, Royal Albert Drive and Cayton Bay.
4.3 Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs) are a useful tool as they allow us to trial a restriction in a "live" situation for up to 18 months, with the consultation period running alongside the trial for the first 6 months. An ETRO is flexible as it allows for immediate feedback and minor changes within the first 6 months, if changes were made, the 6-month consultation period would start again. A decision on making the scheme permanent or removing it would need to be taken within 18 months of the ETRO first coming into force. If businesses wish to make comments about the effects of the ETRO on their trading, then they are encouraged to respond to the consultation during the first six months of the Experimental scheme, which starts on 21 October 2024.
Turn parts of Royal Albert Drive into an Aire and charge a modest amount per night up to let's say 3 nights at a time.
4.4 Charging for overnight parking in the highway was considered in the report as an option, but it is not currently proposed to introduce overnight charging for motor caravans. The concerns and issues with overnight parking would not be alleviated by charging and could result in exacerbating the existing adverse impacts on amenity. There are many campsites available in the local area and the highway authority does not wish to compete with or harm these local businesses.
4.5 Given the fire safety issues of large numbers of motor caravans parked overnight with little space between them, over night provision for motor caravans on the highway could only be considered if parking in the 3 bays either side of a motor caravan were prohibited, in order to achieve a 6 metre fire safety clearance. It is not possible to regulate or enforce this. Even if the loss of amenity issues could be overcome, there would need to be a review of parking policy before setting any fee. A comprehensive council-wide review of on-street and off-street parking is planned but the outcome of this review is some time away. Given the ongoing issues being experienced, it is therefore necessary to take action now rather than await the outcome of the county wide review.
Enforce a ban on tents, fires, bbqs etc as they obviously belong on a camp site.
4.6 This is a relatively new issue which has come to light over the last two years, and particularly so this year. The camping includes an element of homelessness which is being regularly monitored by the council’s Safer Communities team. The land belongs to the council and signs to discourage these activities have been erected recently. We are looking at the best ways of enabling enforcement whether through a Byelaw or other means.
And make the parking accessible for decent sized campers and RVs.
4.7 Requests such as this will be considered when we consider all the consultation comments received during the consultation which will start on 21 October 2024.
As a Council it’s noted that you installed chemical toilet facilities at the public toilets on Royal Albert Drive, so we would presume this was to encourage RVs and campers to stay.
4.8 The installation of chemical toilet disposal facilities on Royal Albert Drive is a facility intended to benefit all visiting motor caravans which may choose to call there to use it. It is not intended as an invitation for overnight stays by motor caravans.
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5.0 |
RECOMMENDATION
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i) That the Committee notes the petition and considers a response.
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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
North Yorkshire Council’s petitions information
Barry Khan
Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services)
County Hall
Northallerton
Report Author – St John Harris, Principal Democratic Services Officer
Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.