Call for clampdown on motorhome parking

Editorial Department • Published 10 Sep 2010 09:00 0 Comments

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Dear Sir, - I am writing in regard to the letter of complaint sent to your paper by Henry and Thomas Cunningham in relation to the illegal parking of their motorhome at the Lakeland Forum car park. As a business person and tax payer I do not pay taxes and rates to provide free accommodation for caravan and motorhome dwellers. As a trading business I welcome all visitors and tourists to Fermanagh, but I can assure you that persons who intend on parking their motor homes for free anywhere they please are no benefit to the businesses of the county.

Firstly there is no shortage of caravan parks in Fermanagh to provide fully licensed and excellent facilities from as little as £16 per night for these people. With an average of at least two people in each of these motor homes that is only £8 per night per person. Your average person who saves hard to pay for their holiday anywhere else will pay a minimum of £40 per night per person for a hotel room. Why should others pay for accommodation only for these people to be given it for free?

Secondly many of these illegal overnight parkers like to argue that they bring so much money to the county. Many business owners invest large sums of money each year into the organisation and sponsorship of festivals and events to attract tourists to the county. A large majority of these businesses are accommodation providers who invest this money to attract visitors to their business. It hardly makes financial sense for a business to invest in these festivals and events only for these people to park for free and not spend any money with these businesses. This was the case recently at the Irvinestown Lady of the Lake Festival where there were more than five motor homes parked for over a week in the town car park so that they could enjoy the festival. Do any of these campers realise that a large portion of sponsorship for this festival comes from local accommodation providers such as hotels, B&Bs and caravan parks? I think that if I was counting on the money brought to the county by these illegal parkers I would have been closed many years ago.

The issue of illegal overnight stays is one that is ongoing and one which is long overdue being addressed. Every other person is fined £30 for parking somewhere 15 minutes longer than they were supposed to yet it appears to be acceptable that a motorhome pulls up, parks across two spaces and stays all night and pays for nothing. I think the time has come for a strict clampdown on this illegal activity.

Instead of clamping down on illegal overnight parking it now appears that Fermanagh District Council want to offer a compromise to accommodate the needs of everyone and provide electric meters in car parks for caravans and motor homes. It seems that addressing the issue of illegal overnight stays interprets to rewarding these people who want cheap accommodation at taxpayers’ expense. I feel it unfair that the average motorist in Fermanagh be fined for parking inappropriately and your average motorhome user be rewarded with new facilities for parking illegally.

More worrying is the fact that there are already over 400 touring caravan/motor home pitches in Fermanagh offering these caravans and motor homes excellent facilities from just £16 per night at no expense to the tax payer. The illegal overnight parkers say they have nowhere to go, but really they have plenty of places to go but they just don’t want to pay for them like your average person would. I think the message is clear to all illegal overnight parkers, pay for the services you want like everyone else. Don’t expect the council to provide competition to the caravan parks in the county who pay their rates and taxes.

Yours faithfully,

DISGRUNTLED BUSINESS PERSON AND TAX PAYER

This letter appeared in Impartial Reporter 09 Sep 10

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