Legal and licensing status

Camping for more than a short period, and the stationing of caravans, are controlled under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 and, for tents, under section 269 of the Public Health Act 1936. Exempted organisations and limited-duration use may take a site outside licensing. The Authority’s standard position is that a field offered to the public by arrangement, for a season, is licensable unless a written exemption is held.

• No site licence is in force for Plashetts Village Hall Field.
• No certificate of exemption (Camping and Caravanning Club or equivalent) was produced.
• The 42-day / 60-day temporary-use arguments were not advanced in writing. Occupancy in 2002 (41 occupied nights) would, if accepted, sit near the 42-day line; the season over which the field is ‘offered’ is longer than 42 days.
• Caravans and motor caravans are not offered. The walkover found no hardstanding and no chemical point. The present use is tents only. That does not by itself remove the 1936 Act.
• Planning status was not researched. The use is long-standing as an informal summer field. No enforcement file is open.