Families are fighting to save a caravan park from closure after being banned from staying there for over a year.
Described as a “piece of paradise” on Formby’s coastline, Freshfield Caravan Park has welcomed generations of families since it first opened on Victoria Road in the early 1980s. Sixty people and their families currently have static caravans at the holiday caravan park, who lease the land from the National Trust.
But since March 2022, no one has been allowed to access the site to stay overnight except for two wardens, following a ruling made by Natural England.
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The ruling that came into force on April 7, 2022, means sand that has drifted across the access road into the caravan park from the surrounding sand dunes can no longer be cleared “due to the negative impacts this would have on the dunes and its biodiversity."
Clare Shipway said her family, who help to run the caravan park, have previously paid someone to clear the access road each year before the site reopens for the new season on March 1 - but due to the ruling they're no longer allowed to do this.
Clare, 43, from Blackburn, told the ECHO: "Sand has slipped down onto the road, which it always does. Someone usually goes down right at the beginning of the season and moves the sand off the access road and moves it into the area where the sand dune is.
"The National Trust are saying Natural England won't allow us to move the sand and because of that we can't access our caravans. We've been in this stalemate with them for many months where they're saying we can't move the sand.
"It means everything to me and it does to everyone else - this is what they've not anticipated.
"There was initially talk of will there be compensation for each caravan? We're a community who have generational connections, we're not just out for money.
"Me and my husband work full time and to be able to go down on a Friday means everything for our physical and mental wellbeing. We've been brought up with everyone there and now we have our own children."
Nine years remain on the lease at Freshfield Caravan Park
According to the National Trust, the sand dunes have been moving closer to the caravan park for many years, with this movement accelerating due to stormy weather at the end of 2021 and the start of 2022.
While the caravan site itself is not within any protected sites, the access road sits within Sefton Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC), meaning legal consent is needed from Natural England to carry out any activity that may impact on the sand dunes.
The National Trust said: “Without the consent from Natural England to clear the access road or an alternative location for the caravan park to be moved to at National Trust Formby, it is our belief that there is no other option but to close the site.”
As secretary and director of Freshfield Caravan Park, Clare's mum and dad Jack Downham, 70, and Eileen Stokes, 67, take care of the day to day running of the site. In 2017, a 15 year lease was granted to Freshfield Caravan Park by the National Trust, with nine years now remaining.
The ECHO understands the lease was accompanied by an agreement to end it in circumstances where the natural movement of sand upon the site and/or the access road created a significant threat to the health and safety of those using it.
Eileen said Freshfield Caravan Park signed this agreement on the basis it would clear the sand from the access road so it never reached a level, marked out on a post on the caravan park, where it posed a health and safety risk.
Eileen said: "Of course it's going to trigger that if we're not allowed to move the sand. We've happily moved the sand for the last 40 years - we pay for that clearance ourselves."
The National Trust was unable to provide more information to the ECHO on the agreement and whether moves to close the park have now been activated, due to legal reasons.
"We call it our piece of paradise because it's just lovely"
Lesley Davis has been enjoying holidays and weekends away at the caravan park with her family for the last eight years. Lesley, 43, from Formby, said: "We're a community of 200 plus people who have not been able to stay on site for over a year now.
"It's such a lovely community down there. We call it our piece of paradise because it's just lovely."
Lesley said Freshfield Caravan Park has asked the National Trust if another access road to the site can be created, or if an existing track through the woodland can be utilised instead.
When the ECHO asked the National Trust about this, it said: "We have given serious consideration to alternative access routes and have sought advice from planning advisors, ecology experts and other consultants.
"However, we have concluded that this is not a viable solution. The chances of getting planning permission are very low, and both the National Trust and Directors of Freshfield Caravan Park have agreed that the likely cost and time involved in developing a scheme would be excessive.
"Creating a new access road would also be a short-term fix as we cannot say with certainty how long it will be before the caravan park itself is covered by the sand dunes."
"It's not like a caravan park it's like a community"
Lesley said: "They're not giving us any other options other than 'we can help you move your caravans off' and basically then it will close. We're all fighting to stay on there.
"We've got two boys, 11 and nine, and they love it down there. It's such a healthy environment to play with their friends. I've been waking up worrying about it in the night.
"We just want to go back on there and carry on enjoying our caravan, as do all the other 60 families on there."
Liz Risley, 48, from Fazakerley, used to stay at her friend's caravan on the site as a teenager before buying one of her own in 2009. Liz said: "I'm devastated that it's gone on for this long. It should never have come to this.
"I feel as though we've been cut off and we've been left stranded and no one seems to be willing to give us any resolution or any answers. We've had access since 1982 and all of a sudden they've said we can't maintain the road.
"We've built friendships up with other families over the years. We have a Halloween party at the end of the season, we have a summer party through the summer holidays.
"You can let the kids play outside and because they're in the confines of the caravan park, it's safe and secure. It's not like a caravan park it's like a community."
What the National Trust had to say
Eleanor Underhill, Assistant Director of Operations at the National Trust, said: “Due to natural sand dune movement, Freshfield Caravan Park at Formby is currently inaccessible. We are in discussion with the Directors of Freshfield Caravan Park Ltd, who lease this land from the National Trust, about the future of the site.
"Without the consent from Natural England to clear the access road or an alternative location for the caravan park to be moved to at National Trust Formby, it is our belief that there is no other option but to close the site. Our discussions with the Directors of the caravan park are ongoing, and we have not yet reached a conclusion.
"We appreciate how frustrating and upsetting this must be for people with caravans on the site and we’re committed to keeping them updated as much as we are able to. We’d encourage anyone with a caravan at Freshfield Caravan Park who has questions to get in touch with us on formby@nationaltrust.org.uk, or to speak to the Directors of FCP Ltd directly.
"Natural dune movement is an important feature of a healthy sand dune system. Formby’s dunes, and the rare wildlife that call them home, form part of the protected Sefton Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).”
What Natural England had to say
A Natural England Spokesperson said: "Sefton Coast dunes are the largest dune system in England. They are nationally and internationally important for a range of dune habitats and specialist species such as the Natterjack Toad.
“With natural movement of the sand dunes at Formby, having been happening for a number of years, Natural England formally declined consent to clear the access track to Freshfield Caravan Park on 07 April 2022 due to the negative impacts this would have on the dunes and its biodiversity.
“We understand this is a difficult situation with potential impacts on the caravan park. However, the dunes are dependent on natural processes including the sand movement. Therefore, it would be against the conservation aims of the site to continue to remove the sand indefinitely.
“We will continue to consider proposals from the National Trust while also ensuring the continued conservation and enhancement of this legally protected site.”
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