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Home sweet home
Motorhome owners will be welcome in St Annes when Fylde Council opens one of its seafront car-parks to overnight visitors this spring.
The prosperous motorhomers will be able to stay for up to three nights in a pilot scheme that will last to the end of summer.
The car-park chosen is the one at the rear of St Annes swimming pool – selected as it offers good sea views while not being visible from the road.
Councillor Albert Pounder, Fylde Council cabinet member for Customer and Operational Services, said: “Motorhomers are good, responsible citizens and tend to be prosperous.
“Many come at the moment but they have to go home at the end of the day. From this spring they will be able to make a weekend of their visit and, we expect, they will spend money in shops, cafes and restaurants.
“They tend to be people who have good disposable incomes – exactly the sort of people we need for the tourism business in the area.
“In France, many towns have ‘aires’. They are places where motorhomers can stay overnight and they typically have electricity hook-ups and running water. You can drive from one end of France to the other by staying in aires.
“Fylde will be one of the first places in England to have one of these continental-style areas and we know there is already interest within the motorhoming community.”
The swimming pool car-park will not have electricity and water hook-ups. If this summer’s trial is a success, such facilities will be considered for future years – as will possible use of other car-parks. Caravans will continue to be banned.
Behaviour will be monitored while charges for overnight stays are yet to be decided. A three-night limit will be imposed to protect local hoteliers.
Councillor Pounder added: “There has been a problem in recent years with motorhomes parking on the roads which is suitable for neither residents nor motorhomers.
“We hope this trial period will make a positive out of a negative – we can get them off the road while using one of our existing assets at no cost to the Council Tax-payer.
“Motorhoming has grown very fast in recent years and we want Fylde to be at its forefront.”
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