Law & Regulations — 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Primrose Valley Holiday Park near Filey, owned by Haven, has proposed opening from 1 February each year, adding 29 operating days annually. The application states no new buildings or increase in caravan numbers. Some residents support the move for its economic and employment benefits, while others cite pressure on infrastructure, the ecosystem and local services. North Yorkshire Council has not set a decision date.

From October 19, drivers in Britain can appeal a DVLA decision rejecting a vehicle's conversion to motor caravan body type. Applicants must provide the registered keeper's name and address, the vehicle registration number and an image of the latest V5C logbook. The DVLA will review the application and make an evidence-based decision; if the evidence does not meet the criteria, the V5C remains unchanged. Body type does not affect insurance category, legislative requirements or speed limits.

Members of Fife Council's North East Planning Committee rejected an application from Devonshaw Ltd for five additional static caravan pitches with decking at the St Andrews Holiday Estate at Knockhill of Nydie. The plans also included a bid for retrospective permission to relocate two existing static caravans. The application attracted three objections, including from Strathkinness Community Council. Despite planners recommending approval, councillors voted seven to three to refuse the application.

Oldham Council rejected a retrospective application to retain a static caravan in the garden of a house on Dowry Road, Lees. The consultation received 34 objections, citing concerns over light, outlook, privacy, appearance, highway safety, ecology, fire safety, surface water, and potential residential use. The applicant's statement said the caravan was for secure storage, not accommodation. Officers concluded that its size, design, and elevated position caused significant harm to the character and appearance of the property and wider area. Permission was refused, and the caravan must be removed.

Ashford Price, owner and chairman of the National Showcaves Centre for Wales at Dan-yr-Ogof, has renewed his criticism of the Welsh Government's proposed tourism levy. Concerns over collecting the charge from families with babies led him to make his caravan site adults-only, with forward bookings already being taken for 2027 and 2028. The levy would allow councils to charge for overnight stays in paid accommodation: the higher rate of £1.30 per person per night applies to caravans, motorhomes, hotels and holiday cottages, while the lower rate of 75p applies to tent pitches and shared accommodation, with under-18s exempt. Price questioned the logic of including babies in caravans while exempting those in tents and asked how wardens would enforce the charge. Any decision on introducing the levy will be left to the next administration following the May 2027 elections; further consultation would be needed, with 2028 the earliest possible start date in Powys.

Highland camping group warns proposed tourist levy of £2 per night for campsites and £5 for hotels could push tourists to unregulated spots. Consultation runs until 30 November.

Robert Gaskin has been refused planning consent for the second time to increase occupancy from nine to 11 months at Avon Riverside Caravan Park in Evesham. The application was rejected because the site lies in a high flood risk area. A previous application was submitted for the incorrect type of consent, and a further full application was submitted in July.

An illegal caravan site in Weston, Nottinghamshire, must cease operating and the land restored to its original condition by 15 January 2027, following a final injunction at Nottingham County Court. Newark and Sherwood District Council brought the action after extensive works over the 2025 Easter bank holiday weekend created approximately 40 pitches, with roads, hedges removed, entrances, fencing, and utility supplies installed within 24 hours. The court awarded the council £30,000 in legal costs, with all defendants jointly and severally liable. Judge Owen described the operation as pre-planned and well-orchestrated, carried out with a degree of secrecy.

Welsh Finance Minister Elin Jones confirmed that the visitor levy will apply to babies staying in caravans but not in tents. In a written answer, she stated that individuals under 18 are exempt only when staying overnight in tents at campsites, hostels, or other shared accommodation; all other accommodation types are chargeable. For a family of two adults, two babies, and an older child, a week's caravan holiday in Wales will cost an extra £54, including VAT; the levy is £1.56 per night per baby. Caravan park owners report difficulties in collecting the tax and have converted some sites to adult-only.

A group of 11 neighbours from Stronmilchan Road in Dalmally is calling on the owners of an unauthorised caravan site to rectify violations and on the council to enforce its rules and remove the site. The residents gathered at the site to protest.

Pembrokeshire County Council has approved a certificate of lawfulness for the existing use of seasonal holiday tent pitches at Little Kings Park Leisure Caravan Site on Amroth Road in Ludchurch. The owners, Mr and Mrs Page, bought the park as a going concern in January 2015; the land had been used for camping from March to October each year since 2015, and for about 20 years by previous owners. The agent's statement said the land was marketed as a tent site with electric hook-ups at purchase, and the applicants were unaware that the material change of use was not part of the wider holiday permission. Between 2015 and 2020 up to 60 camping pitches were used before formal pitches reduced capacity to 29. An officer's report recommended the certificate based on aerial photography showing the campsite in use since 2006, a period exceeding 10 years.

Gruinard Bay Caravan Park in Laide, Ross-shire, has received approval from Highland Council to amend a 1976 planning condition that limited its operating season to seven months. The caravan site can now operate from the beginning of March until the end of November. The application was lodged last month and approved under delegated powers.

Stephen Dobkin was found guilty of breaching an enforcement notice at Medway Magistrates' Court on September 23. He was fined £375 and ordered to pay a £150 victim surcharge and £1,500 towards Swale Borough Council's legal costs, totaling £2,025. Swale Borough Council first took enforcement action in December 2022, ordering the residential use of land next to 241 Leysdown Road to stop and the mobile home and motorhome to be permanently removed. Mr Dobkin's appeal was rejected by a planning inspector in July 2023, and a six-month deadline was set for compliance. On the evening before the court hearing, he moved both units onto an adjoining access track, outside the area covered by the original enforcement notice. The council said it will launch a new investigation and consider further enforcement action if the units are not dismantled and removed.

Haven Leisure Limited has applied to East Devon District Council to extend the permitted season at Devon Cliffs Holiday Centre in Sandy Bay, Exmouth, by 28 days, allowing occupation from February 1 to January 14 inclusive. Exmouth Town Council's planning committee voted to object on September 14, citing traffic congestion, noise, pressure on services and the risk of permanent residential occupation. The district council's economic development officer supported the application, saying it would extend the tourist season and support jobs; the application is awaiting a decision by East Devon District Council.

The Hanrahan family has submitted a planning application for six caravans (three static and three touring) on a plot in Barham, near Canterbury, within the Kent Downs National Landscape. Villagers object, citing the site's location in a flood plain and its designation as unsuitable for development in the Local Plan. The applicant argues that the district has a shortage of traveller pitches and that the family will be responsible residents. The city council must weigh the objections against the family's personal circumstances; no decision date has been set.

Pembrokeshire County Council has refused retrospective permission for a glamping pod at a rural caravan site near Kilgetty. The application, submitted by Janice Palin, sought to retain the pod and change the use of land for short-term visitor accommodation at Woodstock, Cold Inn. The site is a Caravan and Motorhome Club Certificated Location with a capacity of five caravans or motorhomes. The refusal was based on the pod not relating to an enterprise for which a countryside location is essential and introducing new residential development for holiday accommodation in an area where it is not permitted; the application also lacked a Green Infrastructure Statement.

Senior councillor Allison Duncan asked a planning officer whether anyone in Shetland can build without permission and get away with it. The Grutness caravan park is in use despite lacking planning permission; the officer said he could not answer the question. Sepa is investigating waste water discharges, and the council has not disclosed the developer's name.

Somerset Council must pay legal costs of Cornish Farm Touring Park owners after inspectors ruled its behaviour 'unreasonable'. The caravan park near the M5 can remain.

Highland Council is in talks with the Scottish Government to gain powers to levy a tourist tax on visitors staying in campervans, including those parked outside designated sites. A consultation on a proposed £5 per room per night visitor levy for hotels and £2 for campsites is set to begin on Monday. The council currently lacks authority to tax vehicles parked off designated sites but is seeking such powers. If implemented, the levy could raise about £9.5 million annually.

Denbighshire council is considering a plan to convert Lower Barkby car park in Prestatyn into 10 overnight motorhome spots. Stays would be limited to 48 hours, with bans on barbecues and tents.