Council seeks overnight promenade camper van ban

Councillors say they have received numerous complaints about the vans

Calls to ban overnight camper vans on a seaside promenade have been backed by a city's councillors.

The Lancaster City Council motion from Labour councillors Margaret Pattison and David Whitaker proposed banning camper vans and motorhomes on the promenade and city council-owned car parks.

Councillor Pattinson said: “Morecambe councillors receive hundreds of complaints about overnight parking on the promenade."

But concerns remain that the ban could simply "shift the problem" to residential streets.

Councillors backed the motion but with clarifications about "seeking a ban" on vehicle occupation and focused on Morecambe only.

Ms Pattison said: "To be clear, we do not want to ban camper vans from visiting Morecambe. Tourism is very important.

"This motion is only calling for a ban on camper vans, motorhomes and touring caravans staying overnight on the promenade, from 8pm to 8am. ”

She added no shops or supermarkets were open late at night on the promenade and camper van owners were not parking there for local facilities. 

The councillor said there were health and safety risks with people using gas cookers and emptying chemical toilet waste down ordinary drains by roads and pavements.

Many councillors sympathised with residents’ complaints but said the issues needed more thought and the motion needed rewording, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

They said the motion should "seek to ban", rather than an immediate ban - which they said was a county council power that could take time.

Conservative councillor Andrew Gardener, who is also a county councillor, said: "This motion needs tidying-up."

'Unpleasant measures'

He also referenced HGV drivers using the promenade for overnight parking - drivers had very few facilities including toilets, which forced them to take "unpleasant measures", he said.

Green councillor Sam Richies said the motion needed to spell out the need to ban overnight sleeping in vehicles, because some camper van owners stayed legitimately in local hotels, B&Bs or holiday apartments.

Labour's Clare Cozler said: “I used to live near the promenade. I’ve seen people cooking on gas stoves and emptying chemical toilets there. It’s not nice.

Lib-Dem Councillor Paul Hart added: “Lancaster City Council simply needs to ask the county councillor to add this to its traffic regulation orders list.  Then it will happen. But we need to get this passed immediately.”

However Green Councillor Gina Dowling, also a county councillor, said: “It requires a traffic regulation order by the county, which is not cheap. The county council said other traffic changes might be needed because of the Eden Project."