An overnight ban on motorhomes and camper vans parking on Morecambe Promenade has moved a step closer after the town council threw down a £20,000 "gauntlet".
Morecambe Town Council has put the money aside towards the cost of traffic measures to stop the vehicles from parking on the seafront.
There have been numerous complaints from residents over the past few years about motorhomes and camper vans staying on the Promenade for months on end.
This, they say, causes nuisance and pollution, and blocks the views across Morecambe Bay.
The town council wants to see a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) implemented to ban the vehicles from parking on the Prom.
Speaking at a meeting on Thursday, Luke Trevaskis, Morecambe Town Council chief officer, said the £20,000 was to "lay down the gauntlet" to Lancaster City Council and Lancashire County Council, in the hope they will provide match funding to "meet the costs to bring this positive change for the people of Morecambe".
Mr Trevaskis said the last figure they'd been quoted for a TRO was £60,000, which would pay for signage and road markings.
The county council has responsbility for highways across Lancashire, and any change to traffic measures on the Promenade would need to go through them.
Beyond Radio has approached Lancashire County Council for comment.
Councillor Clark Kent, chair of the town council's finance and governance committee, said after the meeting:
"We will put an argument in. We as a town council need to be showing that we are serious about the camper van situation in the area.
"We want to make city and county council stand up and listen to us, and work with us on it.
"Other towns in the area have been successful in banning motorhomes and camper vans on the Promenade. Why should we be any different?"
Lancaster City Council debated the issue at a meeting in November 2024, when it was said that camper vans and motorhomes parking on Morecambe Promenade is the "biggest complaint" among residents with "anger about it everywhere",
A motion by Councillor Margaret Pattison called for an outright ban on the vehicles from parking in council-run car parks.
Following a lengthy debate, councillors instead voted to 'consider' a ban in Morecambe, rather than immediately banning them.
They agreed to work with partner organisations, including Lancashire County Council, Morecambe Town Council and Lancashire Constabulary, to seek to enact a ban on overnight parking on Morecambe Promenade for camper vans and motorhomes, consider a ban for overnight parking across all Lancaster City Council car parks in Morecambe for camper vans and motorhomes, and establish a working group with partner organisations, to explore alternative locations which can be used by camper van and motorhome users within the district.
In May 2024, Morecambe Town Council voted in favour of writing to highways bosses calling for an overnight ban and clear signage warning camper van drivers not to park.
Calls grow for overnight camper van parking ban on Morecambe Promenade - Beyond Radio
At the meeting held at Morecambe Town Hall on Thursday evening, Mr Trevaskis said the £20,000 was among "three exciting things" in this year's budget.
The others, he said, were plans to bring back a kite festival to Morecambe- as part of a record festivals and events budget - and the return of spring public flower bed planting to the town.
But in order to deliver these services and maintain others, the town council's share of Council tax will rise by 4.09 per cent year-on-year.
More on this year's Morecambe Town Council budget HERE.
Read more: Plans revealed to bring a kite festival back to Morecambe - Beyond Radio
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