Concerns over caravans parked along Worthing seafront 'tipping waste down drains’

Residents of seafront apartments in Worthing say they want further parking restrictions put in place to deter motor homes and camper vans.

Residents from Regis Court and the surrounding apartment buildings handed in a petition signed by more than 100 people to Worthing Borough Council on Tuesday (April 5), following growing concerns over caravans parking along West Parade.

Phil Abbott, a Regis Court resident, made a speech in favour of parking restrictions along the road during the full council meeting.

Mr Abbott claimed that vehicles were ‘dumped long and short term’ along the road including ‘caravans and commercial vehicles’. He said some residents reported that a number of caravans are lived in on a ‘permanent basis’ with some occupants using drains ‘to dispose personal waste’.

“It’s impacting on local residents, tourism and the wider Worthing economy,” said Mr Abbott.

“What are the council proposing to do about the situation?”

West Parade falls outside of Worthing’s controlled parking zones, but it is covered by a traffic regulation order (TRO) put in place by West Sussex County Council in 2020. The TRO permanently banned caravans from parking between 10pm and 9am on the north side of West Parade, between its junctions with Bernard Road and Wallace Avenue.

Both sides of Wallace Avenue are also covered, between its junction with West Parade and its junction with Latimer Road. The restriction also applies to Anscombe Road between its junction with West Parade and its junction with Anscombe Close, and to Bernard Road 125 metres northwards from its junction with West Parade.

A letter from WSCC outlining the reasons for the TRO reads: “At its meeting in November 2018, the Worthing County Local Committee chose to prioritise a request to prohibit overnight parking for motor caravans in the above roads.

“This was in response to complaints that motor caravans are parked for long periods in these roads and to allegations that in some cases they are being used for living accommodation.”

But Mr Abbott said caravans and similar vehicles had simply ‘migrated’ to other areas. “Clearly, at the time, no thought was given to where those vehicles would migrate to,” he said.

“In fact, all the order did was to kick the vans and the problem eastwards along West Parade, where there were no active parking restrictions.”

He claimed that – whilst the TRO was put in place ‘quickly’ and vehicles were issued with parking tickets – vehicles simply moved to where they are not restricted and he said enforcement ‘was not carried out on a regular basis’.

The leader of Worthing Borough Council, Kevin Jenkins, sympathised with affected residents but said action would have to be taken by WSCC as the issue falls outside of the borough council’s remit.

“I think we’re all aware of the history of the issue of West Parade and movement of vehicles and how the parking impacts on the residents,” Mr Jenkins said.

“Over a number of years, considerable effort has been put into resolving it and that resolution hasn’t always come forward.The responsibility does rest with West Sussex County Council as the statutory highway authority. They are responsible for setting the parking policies, the street enforcement policies, which Worthing Borough Council are subcontracted to enforce. We can only enforce within the framework that they set us.”

Mr Jenkins added: “It is doable, it just purely depends on the tenacity of the county council.”