In May 2019, Senator Steve Pallett successfully lodged a proposition calling for new overnight-stay sites to be put forward after restrictions were placed on the Le Port area in St Ouen’s Bay, which had become heavily over-crowded and had led to complaints about littering and anti-social behaviour.
Senator Pallett’s proposition followed a ministerial decision signed by Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis in early 2019 banning vehicles from parking at Le Port for longer than 12 hours at a time.
A document containing new proposals was presented for consideration to the Constables’ Committee last year, shortly before the Covid-19 outbreak.
Senator Pallett, who recently co-founded the new Progress political party, said that he had not wished to pursue the matter during the height of the pandemic but explained that with cases dropping, he was now planning to follow up on the issue again. He added that he would soon be submitting a written question in the States and would follow that up with an oral question if he was not satisfied with the first response.
‘What I was asking to do was rather than have all the campervans concentrated in one area was try to find a number of areas around the Island – maybe five or six sites – and people could move around at different times,’ he said.
‘I know they’re going to say because of Covid they’ve not had officers to do the work, but there’s a scheme that went to the Constables and apparently it’s just
sitting on a shelf. That needs to move on now.
‘Campervans are not going to go away. People are still buying them on a regular basis.’
The Senator said he felt that the unregulated Le Port site had become too much of a ‘free-for-all’ but that he did not see an issue with campervans, provided the right facilities were in place.
‘If the vans have got kitchens and toilets within the vehicle, then I don’t see the issue around finding some sites around the Island where people could go with a couple of friends and spend an evening or a couple of nights,’ he said.
‘I think there does need to be a bit of compromise on both sides. All I was asking for was for them to find a number of sites. Users would need to apply to use the site and have a licence, so that you know if
someone leaves rubbish or did any damage.
‘I don’t think that is too big an ask. But unfortunately I haven’t had any answers yet.’
