Scottish Government accused of encouraging 'fly-by-night' caravan sites with motorhome schemes

Caravan park owners have accused the Scottish Government of allowing “fly-by-night campsites” as they call for fairer licensing and safety rules around car parks for overnight motorhome users.

The calls come after government body Forestry Land and Scotland (FLS) added several more bays to its Stay the Night scheme this month, which allows campervan and motorhome users to park up for the night in the organisation’s car parks for £10.

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This is on top of Highland Council offering a voluntary £40 seven-day pass for visitors to park overnight in some of the local authority's car parks, and get daily access to showering facilities in leisure centres.

Caravan park owners have previously been up in arms about the schemes, saying they are having to compete with “what is essentially free” when it comes to attracting tourists.

Some are now calling on ministers to establish “a level playing field” between businesses and landowners, including local authorities, when it comes to safety checks and licensing.

Caravan park owners are under strict instructions for campervans and motorhomes to be 6 metres apart due to potential fire risk and to establish fire assembly points.

Questions have been raised over why motorhomes in caravan parks have different fire safety rules to motorhomes parked in council car parks. | Supplied

In FLS car parks, however, the government body said because it is an “informal” set up and acts under an exemption to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, camping vehicles don’t have to meet this requirement.

A Freedom of Information request showed FLS did not have to consult with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) on fire checks, and that it “does not do specific fire risk assessments for our promoted car parks and recreation sites”.

FLS said it uses signs and social media to “actively discourages lighting fires in forests and on land we manage”.

A petition by Darren and Lynn Redfern, of Dornoch Caravan & Camping Park, in the Highlands, which was read out in Scottish Parliament this week, raised concern about what they called a disparity in the licensing requirements for regulated campsites and other landowners, including government bodies.

A public car park in Golspie, which is about 0.5 miles from an official campsite in the town. | Supplied

The petition has urged all locations that offer overnight motorhome parking to be required to obtain a license, including carparks and laybys.

Mr Redfern told The Scotsman: “The Caravan Sites Act 1960 was created to stop people having dodgy fly-by-night campsites that weren’t really safe. I feel as though it’s gone full circle and now it’s the government allowing fly-by-night campsites that aren’t safe.”

Campervans parked up at a car park in Gairloch | Supplied

The Redferns said the cheaper car park option was also leading to a change in visitor behaviour, which impacts caravan park businesses.

“Visitors in these cheaper car parks might stay for two or three nights, then they come into a campsite with two or three nights worth of rubbish for my bins and two or three nights worth of waste and water,” Mr Redfern said.

“All that means the site’s more expensive for us to run and it puts our prices up. At the moment, we spend around £15,000 a year just to get our bins emptied on this campsite. What are the council doing about bins?”

Several of the council car parks offering cheap overnight stays are also within about half a mile from official caravan sites, putting more pressure on businesses, the Redferns said.

Ed and June Hall, of Wester Ross, who work in the tourist industry, said fire safety in government car parks was “of great concern”.

“A motorcaravan on a legitimate site is required under SFRS Scottish government guidelines to be 6m from any other, with fire extinguishers, assembly points etc,” Mr Hall said. “But for some reason the council, NatureScot, FLS and others can simply call their caravan site a car park, and implement no safety precautions at all.

“If the Scottish Government is intent on providing subsidised holiday destinations at taxpayers’ expense, would it not be appropriate to ensure that at least the same standards of sanitation and fire safety that the same government impose on commercial sites are adhered to?

“Were a caravan site owner to ignore fire safety in this cavalier manner, they would risk losing their license and their livelihood.”

Sarah Allanson, director for Scotland and Northern Ireland at British Holiday & Home Parks Association, said: “Holiday parks and campsites are a key component of Scotland’s tourism economy, generating nearly £1 billion in visitor spend and supporting over 18,000 jobs.

“But unregulated motorhome stopovers are undermining this success — creating safety risks, harming the environment and placing unfair pressures on compliant, licensed businesses.

“These unregulated sites are not held to the same strict safety, spacing and environmental standards that licensed parks must meet by law.

“Organisations should be promoting established, law-abiding parks — not undercutting them — to ensure policies protect communities, support small family-run businesses, and uphold Scotland’s reputation for high-quality, sustainable tourism.”

Highland Council hoped its motorhome initiative, launched in July last year, would generate some £500,000 for the year for infrastructure improvements and biodiversity projects in the local authority area. But it has been reported only £20,000 is expected to be raised in its first financial year.

Some caravan park owners have been positive about the increase in council car parking spaces available for motorhomes and campervans.

One manager of a site in Moray said the bays helped the community with an “overspill” of tourists in some areas. Some businesses on the North Coast 500, however, disagreed, saying, on average, they were only running at about 60 per cent occupancy last tourist season.

In response to the Redferns’ petition, the Scottish Parliament said it will consider writing to the Scottish Government “to see its views on whether, in the interest of safety, landowners who allow overnight motorhomes habitation should be required to obtain a license for this activity.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It is the responsibility of local agencies and councils to take decisions on the provision of local services and community safety activities in their area.

“Scottish Ministers would consider any matter raised by the Petitions Committee.”

Highland Council has been approached for comment.