West Sussex County Council

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Krisryn
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West Sussex County Council

Post by Krisryn »

Reply to my email:
Dear Mr Ryan

Thank you for your enquiry dated 22nd February and I note your concerns.

The County Council is the Highway Authority for West Sussex and so it is only responsible for motorhome parking issues pertaining to the public highway (i.e. on the road). In other cases, the responsibility for official sites, such as off-road car parks, lies with District/Borough Councils or private operators and I suggest that you contact them direct.

In terms of the ‘on-road’ position, there is no right for anyone, including owners of a motorhome/caravan to park on the public highway. However, provided their vehicle is taxed, insured and MOT’d they may park on the highway, including lay-bys, provided they are parked legally (e.g. wholly within the confines of a parking bay, not in contravention of a weight or parking restriction) not causing an obstruction and not camping. Legally you are not allowed to sleep in any vehicle parked on the public highway. Overnight parking is allowed if the vehicle is unattended unless a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) or bylaw is in place that prevents such activity.

It is not a statutory function for the County Council to provide parking provision for motorhomes but The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (2016) does allow it to designate parking places as being for motorhomes/caravans and impose restrictions such as time limits. I do agree that such managed provision can have benefits in terms of economic investment, social inclusion, environmental awareness and sustainability. The County Council can also consider restrictive TROs in order to prevent nuisance parking and/or where there is an absolute need to prevent dangerous parking. In both cases, TROs to manage motorhome parking may be requested (see link below) or proactively considered as part of larger parking projects such as Controlled Parking Zones. It may be the case that the number of domestic vacations do increase in the immediate future and so I will ask that officers give the topic of motorhome parking due consideration.

https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/roads-and ... order-tro/

Yours sincerely

Lee Harris

Executive Director for Place Services

West Sussex County Council

County Hall, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1RQ

Internal: 25088| External: 0330 222 5088 | E-mail: lee.harris@westsussex.gov.uk

Lee's email was copied to; cc: Becky Shaw <Becky.Shaw@westsussex.gov.uk>,
"Nigel Lynn <Nigel.Lynn@arun.gov.uk> <Nigel Lynn" <Nigel.Lynn@arun.gov.uk

My reply:

Dear Mr Harris,

Thank you for reading my email and your reply.

I am aware of the legal position of parking Motor Vehicles/Motorhomes but thank you for re-confirming.

The reason for contacting you direct is that we (i am a member of Campra, Campaign for Real Aires UK ) are finding that many County Councils are taking the lead with partner organisations such as District/Borough Councils and the relevant Tourist Organisation within their Counties to look again at the provision of Motorhome Parking/Aires, which to date is sadly lacking within the U.K.

We are a very proactive organisation and are happy to answer any queries that the County/District/Borough or Tourist Organisation may have. We firmly believe that the provision of Aires is win win, can be self financing and a benefit to the local economy where they are provided.

Kind regards,

Chris Ryan

www.campra.org.uk
Steve
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Re: West Sussex County Council

Post by Steve »

Be interesting to obtain a copy of the UK legislation that says this:
Legally you are not allowed to sleep in any vehicle parked on the public highway”
Since the advise is if you are tied pull over and have a break
Steve - CAMpRA Leadership Team
Grey Wanderer
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Re: West Sussex County Council

Post by Grey Wanderer »

Steve wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:54 pm Be interesting to obtain a copy of the UK legislation that says this:
Legally you are not allowed to sleep in any vehicle parked on the public highway”
Since the advise is if you are tired pull over and have a break
Highways Scotland had to acknowledge they no powers to prevent sleeping overnight in a vehicle.
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Roy
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Re: West Sussex County Council

Post by Roy »

Please see this article reference facts about overnight parking - https://www.thecampervanbible.co.uk/pos ... -the-facts

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Steve
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Re: West Sussex County Council

Post by Steve »

Thats in our repository but its like out documents based on our interpretation they never got a definitive “yes its allowed”
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