Dornoch caravan park operators fear for future if overnight motorhome parking plans get go-ahead
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The operators of Dornoch Caravan and Camp Park have hit out at a proposal to allow minimal charge, overnight parking for motorhomes and campervans on Common Good land just yards from their front entrance.
Lynn Redfern, who runs the beach side park with her husband Darren and other family members, said the move by Highland Council would seriously undermine the commercial viability of the business, which employs six people.
She has now set up an online petition and is lobbying for support from other caravan and camping site operators throughout the Highlands.
“This is going to change the face of camping forever,” she said. “If they do this, then we cannot compete. It is going to pull our business to shreds.”
Highland Council generally bans motorhomes and campervan users from staying in its car parks, but a huge influx of visitors to the north in recent years has led the authority to think again.
As part of a £1.5 million visitor management strategy, councillors agreed earlier this year to identify car parks and other sites where motorhome and campervan users could stay overnight for a minimal, voluntary charge.
These are now just percolating through the system with sites in Caithness recently approved
One of the sites currently under consideration is the bottom beach car park at Dornoch - a mere 200 yards from the caravan and camping site, which also occupies Common Good land. The proposal would be to allow overnight parking there for a voluntary fee.
The park charges £20 a night for a pitch which gives access to sanitary and other facilities. A further £5 pays for an electrical hook-up.
It is understood the proposal will be on the agenda at the meeting of Sutherland County Committee on Monday, November 22.
Mrs Redfern said the issue had been discussed over recent weeks with members of Dornoch Community Council and ward councillors. A suggestion had been made that the new parking facility operate only when the camping site was full or closed, but Mrs Redfern said that would not work.
She said: “Currently there are ‘No overnight parking’ signs in this area and this deters many overnight campers and drives them into the campsite.
“There is the potential at the beach car park to take 20 pitches per night from our existing, established business that supports local jobs."
She added that it was ironic that the business paid rent to the Common Good Fund which would then use the money to set up the alternative facility on their doorstep.
Mrs Redfern’s petition on you.38degrees.uk states: “We request that such proposed facilities do not undermine the commercial viability of local campsites in terms of cost or location.
“We believe that such overnight parking should be offered at a charge of at least £10 per night and only be situated within two miles of an existing caravan and camping park if the park agrees to such proposals."
Dornoch Community Council chairman Paddy Murray said: "The community council will discuss the Dornoch Caravan and Camp Park's recent correspondence at its next meeting on November 17, and give a considered response following it.
"In the meantime we should like it noted that our proposal is in no way intended to compete with or even affect the business of the caravan site. It only applies to when the caravan site is full or closed."
East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillor Jim McGillivray said the influx of motorhomes was a "difficult problem affecting many communities."
He said: “I have every sympathy with Lynn and Darren's situation but I have to factor in the Common Good legal aspects, Scottish Government legislation and guidelines, the direction other communities are taking with the encouragement of Highland Council, and the wish of the community council (guardians of the Dornoch Common Good) to develop a more controlled access through Common Good land to the beach, and to seek some financial return from visitors for their use of this land."
“It is quite a balancing act to sort this out."
