Carry on camping! Bournemouth council is accused of giving tourists the ‘green light’ to pitch their tents on beach and avoid paying for a hotel room after officials axed crackdown plans over fears they would get sued
A seaside council has been accused of giving tourists the ‘green light’ to pitch their tents on its prized beaches after making an embarrassing u-turn over plans to clamp down on overnight camping.
Since the Covid pandemic, Bournemouth in Dorset has seen an alarming increase in tourists illegally pitching tents on the sandy beach to avoid paying for hotel and B&B accommodation.
Last summer the local council received 169 complaints about tents on the beach.
Although overnight camping is banned under a longstanding bylaw, BCP Council has been powerless to stop incidents of ‘fly pitching.’
The council had wanted to introduce a tougher order giving wardens the power to hand out on-the-spot £1,000 fines if illegal campers refused to move on.
But they have now decided against it because they feared being sued.
The decision has been met with dismay by local residents and hoteliers who say it gives people the ‘green light’ to carry on camping.
Tents surrounded by litter the morning after a busy day on Bournemouth beach in July 2022
Since the pandemic, Bournemouth in Dorset has seen an alarming increase in tourists illegally pitching tents on the sandy beach
Tim Seward, chairman of the Bournemouth Area Hospitality Association fears that as word gets out that nothing will happen to people who camp for free on the beach, more will do it rather than pay to book into a hotel
A council spokesperson said there was not enough evidence that overnight camping had a detrimental effect on the resort to warrant a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) being brought in.
Had they gone ahead with it without the evidence then they ‘would have been open to legal challenge’.
Kieron Wilson, head of regulatory services at BCP Council, said: ‘We were given very clear legal advice; there was not the evidence to show that the issue of erecting a tent or gazebo met the legal definition of ‘detrimental’ that is required to implement a PSPO.’
Local councillor Philip Broadhead said: ‘I just can’t believe that the council would drop these powers.
‘Seventy-five per cent of residents want unauthorised camping on the beach stopped. It’s simple.
‘The idea that we could lose legal cases against the council is just scaremongering. The council is hiding behind this legal opinion argument.
Last summer the local council received 169 complaints about tents on the beach
A seaside council has been forced into making an embarrassing u-turn over plans to clamp down on people camping out on its prized beach
Although overnight camping is banned under a longstanding bylaw, BCP Council has been powerless to stop incidents of ‘fly pitching’
‘They are worried there could be a legal challenge because it could look like they were targeting homeless people when that is not the truth.
‘I haven’t seen any evidence of a threat of a legal challenge from someone like a homeless group or a civil rights group.’
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Mr Broadhead was in favour of bringing in a PSPO against overnight beach camping because the existing bylaws ‘had no teeth.’
He added: ‘But with a PSPO you can enforce it immediately with an instant fine and an order to move on. It has teeth.
‘We did a lot of research and had 1,500 responses from local residents and three quarters of them were in favour of the PSPO. Unsurprisingly, the majority of tourists didn’t think it was a good idea.
‘I think local taxpayers think it is just wrong and unfair. It isn’t fair that people can rock up on our beautiful beaches and camp for free when most visitors pay to book into hotels and guesthouses.
‘This decision is making it clear that the council will not stop overnight camping, thus giving the green light to visitors to camp here for free because they know they can get away with it.
‘People see it being allowed to happen and will assume it is fine.
‘We have a multi-million pound hospitality industry here with lots of hotels that rely on bookings. This is not the message we want to send out.’
Mr Broadhead was in favour of bringing in a PSPO against overnight beach camping because the existing bylaws ‘had no teeth’
The decision has angered members of the Bournemouth Area Hospitality Association, which represents the resort’s hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses.
Tim Seward, chairman of BAHA, said: ‘Our members are not in favour of people camping on the beach simply because it means that these visitors aren’t paying to stay in local hotels.
‘Overnight camping is a growing problem and the issue is worse than Airbnbs.
‘As word gets out that nothing will happen to people who camp for free on the beach, more and more will do it rather than pay to book into a hotel.
‘We have enough to contend with our Blue Flag beaches under threat from sewage and the uncertainty over the annual air festival.
‘Many hotels overlook the beach and guests are going to be looking out and seeing all these tents there and think twice about going for a morning walk.’
Tim Seward, chairman of BAHA, said: ‘Our members are not in favour of people camping on the beach simply because it means that these visitors aren’t paying to stay in local hotels’
Defending its decision not to bring in a PSPO on beach camping, Mr Wilson said that legally the council was not allowed to bring in a PSPO for overnight camping
Rosie Radwell, managing director of the Marsham Court HotelI which overlooks the beach, said illegal beach camping hindered hotels.
She said: ‘I think it sets the wrong tone for our beautiful beaches.
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‘If the council are ok with people camping on the beach it should be in a set area which people pay for and with the proper facilities catered for as in toilets and showers.
‘In a season where the weather was not great, and hotels were not full, this also hindered some hotels on their sales of bedrooms through the season.’
During the summer months the sight of pop-up tents usually found on rural campsites of festival fields has become common on the beaches of Bournemouth and nearby Sandbanks
The problem has also led to an increase in complaints of littering and incidents of people using the beach as a public toilet.
BCP Council’s tourism department has previously admitted that its rangers can ask unauthorised campers to leave but do not actually have powers to remove them.
Defending its decision not to bring in a PSPO on beach camping, Mr Wilson said that legally the council was not allowed to bring in a PSPO for overnight camping.
He said: ‘We will continue to enforce the bylaws already in place for sleeping on the beach and collect further evidence as we do this.
‘We will carry on working closely with our partners to keep our seafront a safe, welcoming and clean place to visit.’
He added that a PSPO will be brought in to clamp down on loud music, intimidating and aggressive behaviour, urination and defecation and open fires and BBQs on the beach.
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