MINEHEAD Town Council has called on Somerset County Council to close immediately an area of road in the Quay Street and Quay West area to prevent visitors in motorhomes staying overnight.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to county council leader Cllr David Fothergill, the council also urges SCCl, as the highway authority responsible for the stretch of the seafront, to take immediate action to find a permanent solution to the problem.

Councillors were told at a virtual meeting on Tuesday that Minehead appears on national internet websites as the place to go on holiday for free overnight motorhome parking.

As reported in last week’s Free Press, up to 50 motorhomes are arriving at the seafront in the Quay Street and Quay West areas at weekends, cashing in on free overnight parking and toilet facilities. The invasion has angered residents who claim it is causing a coronavirus health risk.

On Tuesday, councillors unanimously agreed to support an emergency motion from Cllr John Malin which noted “with great concern” the many reports of overcrowding and unsafe practices in the Quay West area by large numbers of motorhome owners and others.

His motion said it was urgent “in order to respond to a serious and imminent threat to public health and control the transmission of COVID-19 in its area”.

The county council has now been asked “as a matter of urgency” to consider the health of residents and visitors and the revival of the local economy and to immediately act under the powers delegated by Government. These can impose restrictions including the power to close premises and public outdoor places with immediate effect.

The emergency motion also called for immediate action to be taken by the county council for a permanent solution – to review the lack of legal signage, road markings and a possible ban on overnight parking of motorhomes and other vehicles occupied by people in Quay West and on Quay Street.

Cllr Malin said that the risks to public safety were illustrated by recent outbreaks of 23 Covid-19 at a caravan site in Shropshire and six at a site in Wales. 

He added: “This is a problem that we have to confront and we are asking the county council to do this.

“There are many other issues we can raise about motorhomes at Quay West such as the lack of legal signage that prevents wardens from even ticketing those who don’t pay, and the fact that one of the two legal sites in Minehead still has spaces for 15 to 20 vans.”

Cllr Anne Lawton, a councillor for the ward, said: “I’m very concerned that we are failing residents by not providing any solution to the problem. The invasion of large vehicles parked in front of the houses means that residents with parking permits are unable to park their cars on what becomes a caravan park every weekend.”

Cllr Terry Venner said that the town needed holiday-makers to stay in Minehead but they should be encouraged to use the facilities already in place: “We have two caravan parks and that is where motorhomes should be going, rather than onto the seafront.”

He said there had been a problem with motorhome parking for at least five years: “The signage doesn’t match up with the road markings - a problem which the county council could resolve quite easily.

“I have counted 21 motorhomes on the seafront and other people have seen 30 or 40. I saw people using hosepipes to take water from the public toilets but at the moment there are no regulations to say that they can’t do it.”

Cllr Beresford Mandley said the people of Minehead were “paying a fortune” for holidaymakers to fill their motorhome tanks with up to 50 litres of water at a time: “Something needs to be sorted -and quickly,” he said.

“The situation is outrageous and our county councillors simply can’t continue to turn a blind eye to it. They need to step up to the mark.”

The mayor, Cllr Paul Bolton, said police had been called to “what was basically a punch-up” between visitors and residents and many seaside towns were now banning motorhomes and imposing penalties: “The police are very frustrated because there is nothing they can do.”

He told councillors: “We have written letters to the county council regarding this issue and we also appear in every single national motorhome website as the place to come for free parking and free facilities.

“In recent months the number of motorhomes has almost doubled, meaning that this issue is only going to get worse in the future. There is an immediate issue but we may need to revisit it regarding a longer-term solution in the not too distant future.”

Cllr Toni Bloomfield said that the town’s county councillors had a duty of care to Minehead residents and parked motorhomes were having a negative impact on the people who live there.

Minehead county councillor Mandy Chilcott, who attended the meeting, said there was no legislation to prevent people parking motorhomes by the roadside. She said she had monitored the situation herself throughout last year. A parking review was in progress and she had asked for the issue to be looked at as part of the review, and would welcome any letter sent by the town council.