Concern as app leads campervans to Edinburgh’s free overnight parking spaces

The app is guiding campervan and motorhome drivers to free overnight parking spaces. Also pictures is Cllr Corbett.

“Park4night” allows users to search for available toll-free parking areas, as well as add any new spaces they find to guide others to them.

Increased sightings of campervans in areas of the city already under parking pressure alongside complaints of littering by campers in the parking hotspots has led to councillors voicing concerns.

Green councillor for Fountainbridge-Craiglockhart, Gavin Corbett, says introducing large campervans into these already limited spaces is adding to a growing issue.

He continued: “For those areas just outside of the controlled parking zone, like Harrison Park or off Myreside Road, there’s already a big problem of too many vehicles trying to park in limited  space.

“To add to the mix a fleet of camper vans stopping off for a few nights as directed by an international commercial website is just really cheeky.

“And then there’s reported problems of litter being dumped or people wandering into nearby woods armed with Andrex.”

Cllr Corbett added: “It is one thing to take your campervan off the road overnight between Pitlochry and Aviemore, say. It is quite another to come into a busy city like Edinburgh, which already has a huge pressure of visitors and to expect to do the same.”

Places like Portobello’s beach promenade have suffered from an overcrowding of campervans in recent years, with the Evening News reporting last November of residents’ dismay at faeces being dumped by campers who were overnighting along the  coast.

Councillor for Portobello and Craigmillar, Mary Campbell, argues websites such as Park4night have intensified the problems.

“The app definitely has directed people towards Portobello. On the website I think there are 38 reviews of people who have come to one of the sites because they were directed by the app,” she said.

“Complaints from residents have been mixed, some of them are upset about the loss of parking spaces or the visual impact of such large vehicles in the space. Those are the two main concerns I’ve been getting.”

Eager to drive the large amounts of campers out of her ward, Cllr Campbell contacted Park4night and had the Portobello parking spaces removed from the app.

Cllr Corbett has also requested that the app removes listings he has concerns about and urges others to do the same, adding: “I’ve contacted the website hosts to ask them to remove certain listings – I’d suggest others do the same.”

Park4night was unavailable for comment.