Last week, Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis, on the request of St Peter Constable Richard Vibert, authorised the conversion of the Le Port area in St Ouen’s Bay into a car park where vehicles can only stay for 12 hours in any 24-hour period.
The site has been popular with campervan users, who regularly stayed overnight there in recent years but concerns have grown about misbehaviour in the area. The minister’s decision will effectively end overnight camping at the site.
Following the decision, Paul Hymas (37), a spokesman for the campervan community, said that the announcement came ‘out of the blue’, leading to calls
for protests to be held, including a slow convoy through the Island.
But Mr Hymas said that, following a meeting at the weekend, representatives of the community have decided to take a more measured approach, which will include lobbying politicians and officials, as well as putting together an online community group.
‘On Saturday we held a meeting among a few regulars to agree upon a response,’ he said.
‘We decided that we would first try the diplomatic approach by getting as many people as possible to contact certain people in power. We are also in the process of setting up a group where people can become members.
‘This group will not be related to Facebook, although we are in the final stages of putting a website together where people can join the group as a member and other members of the public can visit the site to get news updates.’
He added that the group had also decided to press for a public meeting to be held to discuss the situation.
‘The direction we should be heading in is to call for a public meeting, rather than just campaigning to stop the new rules and regulations,’ he said.
‘I believe this approach shows that we understand the Constable’s grievances and I would like us all to come to a diplomatic agreement, so that everyone is happy.’
Mr Hymas said that details of the group website would be released soon.
