Le Port coastal camping to be made illegal

Wednesday 02 September 2020

Overnight parking at coastal camping hotspot Le Port will be illegal from tomorrow, following complaints about noise, fires, litter and drinking.

St. Peter, which is the governing authority for the car park, is bringing in the ban between 23:00 and 05:00, which will be enforced by honorary officers.

Anyone that doesn't comply will be handed a £75 fine.

Chef de Police Joao Camara said that the parish had been forced to act after continuing complaints about noise, fires, litter and drinking. 

“It is a shame that it has come to this but unfortunately all the western parishes are having to deal with similar issues all along the whole of the Five Mile Road,” he said.

Earlier this year, it became illegal to light fires, drink alcohol and sleep overnight in a vehicle at the car park, which is between El Tico and the Watersplash.

Pictured: Earlier this year, Le Port was officially classified as a car park, which meant it became illegal to light fires, drink alcohol or stay overnight.

“It has been a problem all summer which hasn’t gone away, so we have been forced to act,” said Centenier Camara. “We have had families who have felt really intimidated by all the drinking and partying. 

“The current restriction of only being allowed to park for 12 hours in 24 is being abused and it is difficult to police, especially if people don’t respond when we knock on the side of cars and vans.

“While I am not advocating stopping the general public from visiting the glorious St. Ouen’s Bay, it has come to the point where the current situation cannot be allowed to continue. It is very difficult to prove if someone is sleeping in a vehicle if the occupants are unwilling to respond."

Pictured: The car park stretches from the bunker north of El Tico to the Line Up Café. (Google Maps)

He continued: “This summer the area has been used for parties including loud music and drunkenness and the lighting of fires. As a result, both the Honorary Police and States of Jersey Police have attended and, sadly, on the whole, those taking part have been uncooperative when requested for this behaviour to stop.  

“The dunes have also been used as an ad hoc latrine, which is unhygienic among other things.

“Signage has been vandalised including the sign preventing large vehicles from parking and in one area of Le Port the sign has been cut from its pole on more than one occasion.

Centenier Camara added that some social media posts had inflamed the situation.

“Various social media comments have been encouraging people not to cooperate with the Honorary Police and have suggested that they will 'Reclaim Le Port' irrespective of the legislation, because the Government has not come forward with plans that might allow camping in certain areas."

Pictured: A Facebook group has been set up seeking to 'Reclaim Le Port'.

The saga has been rumbling on for several years, reaching the States Assembly last year. In the end, politicians voted in favour of a change in policy, asking that a list of designated spots for campervanners to park their vehicles and rules for a permit system be drawn up.

“The Infrastructure Department has actually undertaken a great deal of work looking at a proposed scheme and were due to present these proposals to the Comité des Connétables earlier this year had the covid crisis not occurred," the Chef de Police said.

“It is sad that those concerned have not appreciated the impact the crisis has had on those involved with the Government now having very different priorities and many staff being moved to alternative covid-related roles.

“With this new overnight ban, we will still ask people to move on before taking any further action, but if we don’t get a response or people refuse to move, we will issue them with a £75 fine.”