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Communities to get a say in overnight campervan parking charges at Fife beauty spots

People in affected areas will be consulted before arrangements are introduced.

Campervans and cars in a car park beside the sea in Fife
Campervans will be subject to charges at five more locations in Fife. Steve Brown / DCT Media

Affected communities will be consulted before overnight campervan charges are introduced at five Fife beauty spots.

Fife Coast and Countryside Trust (FCCT) has suggested introducing controls at Leven Promenade, Pettycur Bay, St Andrews East Sands, Burntisland and Tayport.

And locals will get a say on how they are managed.

St Andrews East Sands is popular with campervan owners.
St Andrews East Sands is popular with campervan owners.

FCCT chief executive Jeremy Harris said: “Everywhere we’ve been we’ve found there are some pretty strong voices in opposition initially.

“But that tends to silence when they realise this is a good thing.”

The aim is to protect the environment and cut the risk of fires and accidents.

It follows an influx of campervan users during the Covid lockdown, which led to clogged roads and car parks and damage to the environment.

At it’s peak, 30 to 35 campervans were crowding into small car parks and staying all night.

Number of motorhomes has reduced

Controls and campervan parking charges are already in place at 10 Fife locations.

Those are East Lomond, Craigmead. Birnie Loch, Wormit Bay, Glenvale, Limekilns, Kingsbarns, Elie Ruby Bay, Pittenweem and Aberdour Silver Sands.

Mr Harris said they are working well and the number of motorhomes has reduced as a result.

Campervan parking charges are in place at Ruby Bay in Elie.
Campervan parking charges are in place at Ruby Bay in Elie. Steve Brown / DC Thomson.

Previously, he said, campervans were often packed too closely together, which created fire and accident risks.

Staff were also having to pick up waste, including human faeces.

Now there are a dedicated number of marked bays, with a small fee imposed

However, there are no electrical hook-ups or hard-standings to ensure the car parks are not regarded as campsites.

And toilets are only provided at some sites.

‘It’s been pretty successful’

Mr Harris added: “It’s a way of us robustly managing these car parks and making them safe for both visitors and our staff because it was becoming a real problem.

“It’s been in operation at 10 sites for a year-and-a-half to two years now and it’s been pretty successful.”

Some sites have ticket machines and others have honesty boxes with suggested donations.

And trust staff have the power to turn people away if car parks are busy and to impose parking enforcement notices.

Fife campervan parking charges ‘not a money-making scheme’

Mr Harris said the arrangements depended on the wishes of individual communities.

“This is not a money-making scheme,” he said.

“For us, it’s really about ensuring the Fife countryside and coastal locations are as good as they can be.

“We want to take a balanced approach depending on what communities want.

“And we want to break down barriers between motorhome users and communities because I think there’s a mutual benefit to both in having this work well.”

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