Unofficial airport car parks 'causing suffering'

The problem of airport passengers parking off site is a growing national issue, with residents living near one major airport telling the BBC they are "suffering immeasurably" because of the rise of unauthorised car parks.

Some people living in Chew Stoke, close to Bristol Airport, have said their village is at times "unliveable" as drivers save money by parking there.

Bristol Airport said it had committed to funding an extra parking planning enforcement officer at North Somerset Council since 2024 and had been told this was "stopping some of the rogue operators".

Annemieke Waite, from North Somerset Council, said airport expansion had made the situation significantly worse.

Currently, the national planning system allows operators to run temporary car parks for up to 28 days a year.

Waite said: "I understand it's perfectly legal, it is OK for someone to park their car off-road in a field, provided they don't return within a year."

But she added: "These are community areas. Suddenly people are faced with seeing nearly 300 to 600 cars parked outside."

Waite believes operators, some of them farmland owners, are using the 28-day rule as a loophole.

She said car park operators use a field for 28 days, then move on to the next vacant field for the same duration, and carry on doing this while staying within the rules.

A statement from North Somerset Council said authorities were finding it "extremely difficult" to take effective action against unauthorised car parks near airports.

"While there are powers to restrict this, they often just shift the problem elsewhere," it added.

Waite said the council had had to deal with an estimated 6,000 cars in fields surrounding Bristol Airport.

Steve Reed, chairman of Chew Stoke Parish Council, said temporary car parking in fields was not the only issue he had noticed.

He described one of the problems as "fly-parking", which is where people park their vehicles on side roads and lay-bys in the village, from where they order a taxi to the airport.

"That started to increase three to four years ago," he said, adding temporary car parking in fields was also a problem.

Reed said Bristol Airport was the "only airport in the UK that's expanding without any proper infrastructure to support it".

Dave Lees, chief executive of Bristol Airport, said the company had made a "huge investment" into its transport links and parking.

"What we have been managing to achieve is a step-up in terms of the number of people now using public transport. We aim that to be 26% [of customers] in our proposals," he added.

Waite is now calling on the government to make a change to its legislation.

In a statement, North Somerset Council said current policies lacked "the strong controls councils need to protect residents and the environment properly".

"This is why we believe urgent government intervention is needed to review and tighten permitted development rights, giving local authorities the tools required to tackle this issue effectively," the council added.

The BBC has asked the government for a response.

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