The Legal Side

CLs are made possible by Acts of Parliament;

The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 and Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963 chapter 17.

They do not require a site licence or planning permission but to take members they will need a current certificate from the Caravan and Motorhome Club, these run annually from January to December.

The Caravan and Motorhome Club are one of a number of organisations that are exempted under the Act. The Caravan and Motorhome Club issue annual certificates to CL's that meet both their own criteria and the provisions of the Act.

An excerpt from the Act - is shown below and is available online here.

Recreational organisations like caravan clubs or the Scouts can apply for an exemption to camp without a licence or planning permission.

Approved sites exemption

This is known as a paragraph 5 exemption.

With this exemption, your organisation can select sites for its members to stay on, by issuing certificates to the landowner or occupier. These certificates are valid for up to one year.

Non-members are allowed to stay on the site if your club and the landowner agree to it.

You’ll need to:

• set a maximum limit of 5 caravans at a time for each site

• have a system for consulting neighbours and the local licensing authority (Natural England, or the Scottish or Welsh governments) before issuing a certificate

• have a system for inspecting the sites and dealing with complaints from the public

• send copies of the certificates you issue to Natural England, or the Scottish or Welsh governments (depending on where your club is based)