Skegness Residents want Cllr Craig Leyland to stand down as leader of the council
Skegness residents angry East Lindsey District Council are wasting council tax money on court action with Kingfisher Caravan Park owners
Residents and business owners are angry and frustrated that East Lindsey Council are not using common sense over the Kingfisher Caravan Park fiasco.
The owners of caravan owners of Kingfisher Caravan Park have now submitted paper to the High Court as part of their dispute in East Lindsey Council change on caravan age limits.
East Lindsey Council have failed to come up with a resolution with the caravan owners on how long a caravan can stay on the council owned site, and now court action is pending.
The council have already lost a great deal of money over the dispute and now even more council tax money is being wasted on court action.
We have received more than 2000 emails from residents who have complained about East Lindsey Council handing of the situation. Many of them are calling for the leader of the council Cllr Craig Leyland to resign for wasting public money.
While East Lindsey Discount Council are funding the action with public funds, the owners of the caravans on Skegness Kingfisher Caravan Park are footing the bill themselves.
More than 100 caravan owners on Kingfisher Caravan Park are taking legal action against East Lindsey District Council. They have done this as a last resort due to the council failing to come up with a proper resolution.
The dispute started when the council decided to introduce new rules where caravans older than 15 years would have to move off site.
The council did offer an alternative where they would look at introducing a ten, one-year extention subject to an annual inspection. However, caravan owners were not happy with this offer.
Stuart Allen who is leading the action against East Lindsey Council has apologized to residents over the situation. He has said in a letter that he is sorry that East Lindsey Residents council tax money is being wasted over the legal action.
The letter reads: “This letter is an apology to the residents of East Lindsey that will now be forced to foot the legal bill of the council who think they can unilaterally impose changes to people’s lives.
“This letter is an apology to the residents, not because of what the council have done to date (loosing £1m per year against the services they deliver to you), but against the fact that the group have now taken this matter to [the] High Court for legal judgement.
“The group will self-fund their challenge, but the council will be reliant on your council tax to fund their challenge which will eat more into the services they provide.”
East Lindsey Council have already spent more than £25,000 on legal costs, and residents and business owners in Skegness are not happy.
A lot of residents from Skegness feel the council is wasting money on the action and should sit down with the caravan park owners and come up with a deal that both sides are happy with.
One business owner who did not wished to be named told Lincolnshire News & Lifestyle that the council are using public money that could be used on important services for the area.
“We are seeing services being cut in the area. The council are wasting money on this silly dispute which could be used to fund services within the Skegness area.
Another business owner explained to us that it is not just the money that is being wasted that is frustrating. He said that the council is damaging the reputation of the area which could result in a drop in tourism.
“My business relies on tourism like most of the businesses in the area. Caravan Owners spend a lot of money in the area which results in the creation of jobs. If they stop coming, then unemployment will increase, and some business owners may be forced to close down.”
More than 1,300 of the emails we have received over the situation are calling for Cllr Craig Leyland to stand down as leader of the council.
A spokesperson for East Lindsey District Council said: “The council is also disappointed that matters are progressing to court.
“However, as the council has always commented, the advice to it has been clear and the changes we have made have been consistent with that advice.”