Decision details

Caravan Site Licensing, Fees Policy and Compliance Policy

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Decision Maker: Licensing and Community Safety Committee

Decision status: For Determination

Is Key decision?: No

Is subject to call in?: No

Decisions:

The Public Protection Manager gave the Committee a presentation on the legislation around Camping and Caravan Site Licensing as follows:

· The Public Health Act 1936 covered tents and if land was used for the pitching of tents for more of 28 days in a calendar year planning permission was required

· If a site was used for more than 42 days consecutively or 60 days in total in any 12 months there was the need for a licence to be in place

· Section 269 of the Act created the need for a licence

· A tent licence would contain conditions designed to protect people using the site

· Conditions were based on national model standards in relation to site layout, fire precautions, and sanitary facilities etc. and could be varied or removed at any time in relation to change in circumstances

· There were two main types of Caravan Site licence; residential sites and sites used for holiday purposes only

· The legislation which covered caravan sites was as follows:

(a) Mobile Homes Act 2013

(b) The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960

(d) Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

· In addition there were model conditions:

(a) Model Standard Conditions Residential Parks 2008

(b) Model Standard Conditions Holiday Parks 1989

· A clear pre-requisite to be able to issue a licence was that Planning Permission was already in place

· The definition of a caravan was given at section 29 of the Caravan and Sites and Control of Developments Act 1960 and was given as; any structure designed or adapted for human habitation capable of being moved from one place to another (whether by being towed or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer) or any motor vehicle so designed or adapted but does not include; rolling stock on a railway system or any tent

· The act was amended by Section 13 of the Caravan Sites Act 1968 to give guidance on twin units and maximum dimensions for units being 20 metres in length, 6.8 metres wide and 3.05 metres in height

· This definition does cover motor homes

· The definition of a caravan site was given at Section 1 (4) of the Caravan Sites and Control of Developments Act 1960 and reads as follows; “Land on which a caravan is stationed for the purpose of human habitation and land which is used in conjunction with land on which a caravan is so stationed”

· Tent sites were not necessarily aware that motor homes were caravans, without the Local Authority enforcing or promoting the regulations this would have gone unchecked

· Work was ongoing in-house to set up an electronic means of processing and storing applications made, this would ensure progress of applications was tracked

· If a residential site had a residents association the Local Authority must consult with them as a stakeholder as well as the residents of the site. The site owner must also ensure engagement with residents was carried out

· In the law a residential park home was called a relevant protected site

· The Guidance was clear about existing sites with known problem areas which stated that a line would be drawn under the issues moving forward

In response to a concern about the current staffing levels coping with the additional workload, the Public Protection Manager advised the Committee that a new post had been created and the responsibility for monitoring Caravan sites and Houses in Multiple Occupation would be the main duties of the new post holder.

In response to a question about different departments not communicating with each other, the Senior Solicitor advised the Committee that in recent years there had been operations where officers from different departments had worked well together.

RESOLVED that it being 11:33 am the meeting be adjourned for a comfort break.

RESOLVED that it being 11:47 am the meeting reconvene.

The Public Protection Manager summarised the draft caravan site licensing, fees policy and compliance policy (previously circulated) as follows:

· Previously the function of licensing residential sites came under the remit of a different department

· To be able to charge fees for a service there was the need for a policy and in addition it was good practice to have a compliance policy also in place

· Unlike other licensing areas a charge for pre-application advice could be made

· The fees calculation table listed all the possible activities officers could expect to carry out and a charge was linked to this activity

In response to a question about why only one visit to a site in a year, the Public Protection Manager advised that the Council was being mindful not to overburden a business and felt that more than one visit would cause such a burden. The situation could be reviewed after a period of time and amended if it was felt more frequent site visits were required.

In response to a question about whether the officer time to work out if a deficit or profit had been gained was allowed for in the fees calculation, the Public Protection Manager replied no as this was not listed in the guidance as an activity that could be chargeable. To avoid any challenges the guidance had been closely followed when drafting the policies and fees.

In response to a query on a possible contradiction of wording the Public Protection Manager agreed to amend the last sentence of paragraph 4.3 of her report to read “Enforcement fees are payable by the site owners and are not to be passed onto residents”.

RESOLVED that:

(a) A six week period of consultation be undertaken on the proposed draft fees policy and compliance policy on Residential Park Home Sites,

(b) The Public Protection Manager undertakes a scoping exercise in respect of non-residential sites to ascertain an estimated number of sites across the district and formulate a strategy in terms of a suitable level of administration and enforcement, and;

(c) That a letter be sent to the appropriate Minister requesting a change to the legislation to allow for fees to be charged for holiday parks as North Devon had a large number of holiday parks.

Report author: Katy Nicholls

Publication date: 09/12/2020

Date of decision: 14/01/2020

Decided at meeting: 14/01/2020 - Licensing and Community Safety Committee

Accompanying Documents: