Council rules that use of Whitby field as campsite was ‘not lawful’

The council has said that the use of part of a field in Whitby, off Green Lane, as a campsite hosting facilities for camper vans, caravans and an area for tents to be pitched was ‘not lawful’.

The owner had applied for a certificate of existing use, stating that the land had been in operation as a campsite for a continuous period of more than 10 years.

Despite the submission of evidence ranging from TripAdvisor reviews to council tax bills, the authority said the licence could not be granted.

North Yorkshire Council found that despite the submitted evidence “it has not been demonstrated on the balance of probability that the whole of the land outlined in red has been used as a camping and caravanning site for a continuous period of at least the past 10 years”.

Although the submitted information was “wide-ranging” and “attempted to present evidence that a campsite in the form described by the applicant has been operational since around 2010”, officers said the evidence was lacking in substance and clarity.

Despite online reviews dating back 14 years, the council said it was “unclear as to where or when the expansion” of the site had taken place.

The authority also received a signed email from a neighbour which indicated that “they have lived across the site for 13 years and [it] has been operational since then”.

However, it said there was “no supporting evidence within the email which states which parts of the site have been utilised, or other evidence such as dated photographs”.

It was also noted that some of the evidence contradicted “the notion that the site has been used for more than 10 years” including council tax records that only dated back to 2017, and logbooks dating to 2020.

“Additionally, a caravan site licence has never been granted on-site,” the council said.

The authority concluded that as the “burden of proof is on the applicant” it was “not appropriate to grant the certificate of lawful development” even though “caravanning is likely to have taken place on at least part of the application site within the past 10 years”.