Debates over motorhome and campervan parking are heating up across the UK. CAMpRA founder Donald Macdonald supported the Denbighshire Motorhome Aire project to create six paid overnight spaces in Wales, including two in Rhyl, despite opposition from Marine Drive residents. Macdonald noted that such sites attract year-round tourists, with average daily spending around £50. The county council said the project aims to combat illegal camping and will be funded by Welsh and UK government grants.
However, not all proposals succeed. Lindisfarne Hotel on Holy Island withdrew its application for four permanent campervan spaces on its car park after over 20 objections from locals and comments from the Northumberland Coast National Landscape and the parish council. The hotel had previously operated a temporary campervan site under a 60-day permission.
In Scotland, the situation is mixed. Campaign group Campra opposed banning campervans from tourist spots like Falls of Falloch, calling such measures short-sighted and noting that 88% of motorhome owners are unhappy with the lack of parking infrastructure. A petition to ban campervans on the NC500 route except in designated areas, which gathered over 1,100 signatures, was rejected by a parliamentary committee due to lack of time before elections, though the committee acknowledged the issue as serious and suggested revisiting it in May.