I see the fun police are out again in Felixstowe, this time trying to stop camper vans parking along the seafront near the Fludyers pub.
Frankly, I can’t see what all the fuss is about and judging by the comments on this newspaper's Facebook page nor can many others.
There’s a lovely stretch at the seafront where motorhomes and campers have been parking up, some of them for a few days.
It’s a really nice place to park right next to the beach with toilets and the pub nearby. I can see why it’s attractive to camper van owners etc.
It reminds me a bit of Newquay in Cornwall where you get the surfers parking up in their vans to catch the waves. It’s part of the ambience of the place. Now there aren’t too many waves to catch in Felixstowe, but it does have a lovely beach.
So, what’s the problem you might ask? Well, it seems as if a small but vocal minority of locals don’t like it. They say it stops the day trippers from parking their cars and no doubt some just don’t like seeing people enjoying themselves.
I don’t know who these complainants are but apparently, they’re moaning about the van's parking with two wheels on the kerb and these nimby’s think these visitors do little to support the local economy.
Shock horror, some even dare to stay overnight and have breakfast the next morning, wow how dare they! What a joke these complaints are.
It’s a bit like people who live next to a pub and moan about the noise at chucking out time or moving near a church and moaning about the bells being run.
A few years ago, we had someone who moved into a Suffolk village and complained about the cockerels making a noise first thing in the morning!
If you live by the seaside, you get holiday makers!
Now the councils are getting involved, East Suffolk Council, Suffolk County Council’s Highways team and Felixstowe Town Council.
They’ve come up with three options, all of which would put restrictions on the camper vans and motorhomes, but why?
The vans all pay road tax and yet again they get discriminated against. It wasn’t that long ago that East Suffolk Council had a pop at big motorhomes parking in their patch.
More and more people are enjoying the freedom these vehicles give. We should be welcoming them with open arms and encouraging them to visit places like Felixstowe.
We had a VW campervan for a while and loved the fact on a Friday night you could just jump in and off you go for a weekend adventure.
It’s great fun, yes, we stayed mainly on sites, but we have slept in it on the side of the road too. We weren’t noisy, we were respectful of our surroundings, and no one probably even knew we did it, unless my snoring was too loud!
It will be interesting which of the three options the councillors come up with to curb this activity. It’ll probably be something that generates them money, it usually is.
Well let me give them a fourth option, leave them alone! Stop trying to spoil people’s enjoyment.
To the councillors don’t pander to these nimby’s, stop being the fun police. Who are these anonymous people complaining? How many are there? I’d love to know.
We only have a limited time on this earth, so let’s enjoy it and stop moaning about something so trivial.
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