BUSINESS MATTERS: Highland Council motorhomes scheme has only added fuel to fire
If there’s one subject guaranteed to get people hot under the collar in the Highlands, it is surely motorhomes.
The huge growth in tourism in recent years has brought jobs and opportunities aplenty but one of the challenges has been managing the pressures the influx of visitors can put on local infrastructure.
Motorhomes are often at the centre of those pinch points and the behaviour of a minority of drivers makes things worse.
We’ve all been frustrated by roads blocked by inconsiderately parked motorhomes, or, even worse, stumbled across the appalling mess left behind by some irresponsible camper.
The impulse to put some form of controls in place, and ask visitors to make a contribution towards the upkeep and improvement of under-pressure facilities, is completely understandable.
However, the motorhome pass scheme introduced by Highland Council has only succeeded in adding fuel to the fire.
I’ve watched with interest the reporting of the issue in The Strathy including the latest intervention by MSP Edward Mountain who has described it as “ill-conceived and unworkable”. He has a point.
The initiative is no doubt well intentioned but the way it has been set up has caused a great deal of upset and confusion.
It asks motorhome owners to voluntarily pay £40 for the right to stay overnight in council car parks for a week.
In a week where we at FSB have been celebrating our 50th anniversary, it feels fitting to quote a 1970s hit.
When it comes to the motorhome permit scheme, in the words of Johnny Nash ‘There are more questions than answers’.
Mr Mountain has posed the most pertinent ones. Will a voluntary scheme with no enforcement really solve any problems? And will it even cover its own costs?
Does it comply with health safety regulations which prevent motorhomes being parked too closely together at official campsites for fire prevention reasons?
Is it fair and reasonable for the council to undercut the services provided by regulated campsites?
Why didn’t the local authority take more time to meaningfully engage with these and other local businesses to understand their views before launching the plan?
Our strong view, of course, is that the council should be working with local businesses rather than undermining them, however inadvertently.
There is still time for the local authority to sit down with the independent businesses which have been affected to work out how it can work with them, rather than against them, to tackle issues everyone recognises.
Doing so would help to rebuild confidence in the council at a particularly important time.
The local authority has just confirmed it intends to bring forward proposals for a Highlands Visitor Levy. Making that a success of that for the whole region will need the council and local businesses to work closely together to achieve mutually agreed aims.
Mike Duncan is development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses.
