Motorhome parking [Our trial] was really successful, so now we are looking at making those two sites permanent and running trials at three other sites Durhams first aire Durham is one local authority opening its first aire this year. CAMpRA has been brilliant, says Kieron Moralee, traffic management section manager at Durham County Council. It has given us information, advice and checked over proposals, and is even going to do a trial stay at the aire before it officially opens, to check everything is present and correct. Like many others, Durham County Council has experienced an increase in demand from motorhomes over recent summers, particularly in its coastal car parks. With council leaders keen to do something to meet this demand while ensuring sensitivity to the needs of other users Moralees team spoke to their planning department about potential locations for an aire. With our coastal car parks, we have to be aware of habitat regulations for example, with regard to nesting birds at certain times of year, he says. We looked, then, at alternatives a site with good transport links, that has adequate space and is close to facilities and decided on our Belmont Park and Ride site. Situated off the A1, on the outskirts of Durham, the site is about 15 minutes drive from the coast and has regular buses into Durham city centre. As Haywood points out, directing motorhomes to out-of-town car parks such as park and rides is helpful in reducing congestion and carbon emissions in central locations. It has CCTV and is manned 24 hours, so it has that added security from a user perspective, says Moralee. Its an asset that, from 7pm, is not in use, so why not adapt it to meet the needs of the motorhome community and attract people into the county? It will allow us to cater for more visitors, which has been a key feature in our bid to be UK City of Culture 2025. Changing the TRO to allow for overnight stays at this site was relatively straightforward, adds Moralee: We received no objections to the TRO change because there are no directly affected frontages. The site is screened by trees and separated from the closest houses by a main road, and it doesnt really affect the statutory consultees the emergency services, for example, are not affected as long we adhere to guidelines for spacing and fire regulations. The council is not putting in waste and water facilities initially, but Moralee says it is something it will assess depending on demand. We are also open to rolling this out to other car parks. We see Belmont as a trial and will base our next steps on demand and lessons learned from there. The long view In Ayrshire, next steps are already being taken following the trial last year. Temporary TROs allowing motorcaravan overnight stays between April and September in car parks in Troon, Prestwick and Ballantrae are now in place, and the sites in Ayr and Girvan will be in operation again, with a view to making these permanent, all-year-round sites. Following feedback, the stay period has been extended from one night to three, and the price has increased, because people said they would be willing to pay more to have more facilities. We provided temporary waste-water facilities at the Ayr site last year, but now we are looking at providing something more permanent, McDonnell says. We are also looking at installing an automatic number plate recognition barrier-controlled entry and exit system. This would allow people to book in advance, rather than operating on a first come, first served basis, and would help control some of the historical issues we have had with car enthusiasts gathering in the car park during the evening. This would benefit motorhome users, but also the local people who have had to deal with the car enthusiasts for years so there is a double advantage there. He adds: Motorhome visitors tell us that they cant believe they are sitting in their vans at night overlooking such iconic scenery. South Ayrshire is rightly very proud of it and keen to promote it, so I can see our scheme expanding over the next few years. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K The BPA has a number of resources to help: see britishparking.co.uk/Traffic-Management You can contact CAMpRA for advice at campra.org.uk *See bit.ly/PNApr22MC ** See bit.ly/PNJun21cleg 24 britishparking.co.uk PN Apr 2022 pp22-25 Motorhome parking.indd 24 24/03/2022 10:59