By Ryan Sands
A MOURNES councillor has given his backing to Newcastle’s Castle Park becoming inaccessible to motorhomes in future.
Height restriction barriers were installed at the town park for the duration of September’s Irish Open tournament, and Glyn Hann (DUP) has now called for the council’s forthcoming motorhomes strategy to recommend installing these on a permanent basis.
“I am continually getting complaints from Newcastle residents who are annoyed with campervans using Castle Park car park for overnight stays,” he said.
“I, for one, believe this car park should have no campervans using it at all.
“I believe Castle Park car park should be for visitors/tourists in cars that are day visitors to Newcastle.
“This car park is in the centre of Newcastle where there is a shortage of public car parking.”
The local representative added that there are “quite a number of caravan sites that have campervan spaces available”, and that motorhomes should “go there and give their business to the caravan sites”.
“Over the summer past, one weekend, I counted 60-plus campervans in Castle Park staying overnight free of charge, with tables and chairs and loungers for sunbathing, which, to say the least, is uncomfortable viewing for the general public,” he stated.
“Height barriers were installed for the golf in September past to prevent campervans parking in Castle Park, which worked well, but it was only temporary.
“I know council is doing a review on where campervans can park, and I will be supporting stopping campervans overnighting in Castle Park and a clear decision on where council facilities welcome campervans.”
Cllr Hanna also said that “many other towns like Kilkeel have this problem”, and that the town’s Mourne Esplanade often has “large numbers of campervans overnight, leaving quite a bit of waste behind”.
“This issue of campervans needs addressed asap,” he concluded.
The council’s Sustainability and Environment Committee was advised in August that the installation of permanent height restriction barriers at Castle Park will be considered during future discussions on the motorhomes strategy.
At the same meeting, councillors agreed to the £2,000 installation of the temporary barriers for Irish Open week.
A committee report detailed that Castle Park’s car park – which has five designated motorhome spaces – did not have barriers, and that council had recently completed a survey there.
This was carried out on the basis of ‘concerns over the number of motorhomes parked in Castle Park overnight in contravention of council bye-laws, which stipulate that there must be no parking between the hours of midnight and 6am’.
‘On 4 August 2024, there were 27 motorhomes parked in Castle Park car park, which generates significant risk in terms of fire safety and traffic control,’ the document read.
‘In order to improve traffic control and reduce safety risks, it is proposed to install temporary height restricting barriers at Castle Park car park for the duration of the Amgen Irish Open from 9 to 15 September 2024.
‘Furthermore, it is proposed to erect additional signage at the entrance of the car park to remind members of the public of the bye-laws for control of car parking.’
Conor Sage, Sustainability assistant director, told the committee that it was his understanding that “the Active and Healthy Communities (AHC) Directorate has a motorhomes strategy completed in draft”.
On permanent Castle Park barriers, he stated that “that really needs to be considered in conjunction with the motorhomes strategy”, given “the implications of making those barriers permanent and the offsetting of the motorhomes”.
“Where do we displace them to?” added Mr Sage.
“So, I think the wider context really needs to be considered before that decision can be brought to the committee.
“We would also need to consider and review how effective the placement of the barrier has been during the week of the Open as well, and the issues that come out of that as well would be reviewed after the event.”
