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| This is Popeye the Sailor Man. He lives in a caravan....apparantly. He also has arm tumours, severe lordosis, and suffered a debilitating stroke following years of pipe smoking (c/o Family Guy). He probably lives near you....illegally. (Pic : via Wordpress) |
I trust everyone had a nice holiday, and to ease myself back into the drudgery of political blogging, I'm going to kick off 2014 proper with a straightforward post.
Just before Christmas recess, Darren Millar AM (Con, Clwyd West) launched a full consultation on his draft Member's Bill on Holiday Caravan Parks (pdf). The consultation's still open for another fortnight if you want to respond.
As you probably know, Peter Black AM (Lib Dem, South Wales West) has already had a law passed – the Mobile Homes Act 2013 – which created a new regulatory system for mobile home sites.
Darren Millar's proposed law, effectively, is a series of amendments to the Mobile Homes Act which brings caravans used for holidays under the full spectrum of that law.
The headline change to the law, is that local authorities will have the power to issue compliance notices if a holiday caravan is being used as someone's main/only residence.
People living in that situation don't pay council tax as a resident (they probably do via the site owner) as holiday caravans aren't counted as permanent residences – they're only supposed to be lived in for a maximum 11 months a year. Yet it's been said people living permanently in holiday caravans are often "some of the most intense users of public services".
They don't eats enoughs spinach, then? Ah-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-guh.
The draft Bill, as it stands, will also mean holiday site owners will have to pass the same "fit and proper person" test that was set out in the Mobile Homes Act.
This Bill, when introduced, will be a "first" because - as far as I can tell - it'll be the first example of a Welsh law signficantly modifying an existing Welsh law since the 2011 referendum. It'll also be done just weeks after that law was given Bet Windsor's autograph.
You have wonder why these provisions weren't simply worked into the Mobile Homes Act before it was passed?
That's not to say the law – as it is - is a waste of time. There are parts of Wales, especially along the north Wales coast, where caravan parks are popular and where there's a problem with people living in them for too long.
There are related problems resulting from people living full-time in holioday caravans that might get overlooked. When South Wales Fire Service drew up plans to close Porthcawl fire station; Porthcawl Town Council, Suzy Davies AM (Con, South Wales West) and Peter Black believed fire risks at the large Trecco Bay caravan site were overlooked in models the fire service used to estimate new response times.
After the weather over the last few weeks, and the tidal problems more recently, I don't need to spell out the risks attached to living in caravans near the Welsh coast. Darran Miller has since told the Daily Post that he would like to include provisions to ensure proper flood evacuation plans are put into place. I suppose holiday caravans are often seen as a cheaper alternative to sheltered accommodation too.
The main danger is that people living all year round on holiday sites creates "ghettoes" of poor-quality housing, where people aren't formally registered as living in the area – a "hidden population" – who are heavy users of local services but for whom local authorities don't receive any funding for.
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