Landowners in Wales are giving up on pop-up camping, according to a global campsite operator. In the past three years, the number of new pop-ups has slumped by two-thirds due to planning rules that differ between Wales and England.
Pitchup, an online booking platform for around 6,000 caravan and camping sites, said Wales remains the UK’s most popular country for outdoor holidays. But company founder Dan Yates fears an opportunity is being lost over the issue of Permitted Development Rights (PDR) and warned the sector could “go into reverse” without action.
PDR governs how long farmers and landowners can run a campsite before having to apply for extra planning permission. In England, this period has been permanently extended to 60 days, for up to 50 tents and motorhomes. But in Wales – and Scotland – it remains at 28.
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Last November, a young family from Anglesey claimed the cross-border disparity was a factor in their decision to sell up and move away – though their campsite is still taking bookings for Easter. Another operator, Susan Allen, who runs the Moss Lane Cottage campsite just a mile from the English border at Hanmer, Wrexham said the regulations threatened the survival of the pop-up camping sector in Wales.
She said: “It is very frustrating that the Welsh Government doesn’t seem to want to follow suit and extend PDR as in England, as campsites there get five or six more weekends than we do. I’m not saying that if we got 56 or 60 days we would use them all, but to be able to open more weekends across the summer would make a big difference to us financially.”
According to Pitchup figures, just 33 new Welsh pop-up campsites were added to its website in the last 12 months, down from 53 in 2022, and 97 in 2021. During the Covid pandemic, the rule was relaxed in Wales, enabling pop-up campsites to operate for 56 days, but this concession ended at the start of 2022.
Pitchup said Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire fared badly in 2023 but hit worst was Powys, where new pop-ups “dropped off a cliff”. From 17 new listings in 2022, the number plunged to four the following year. Sign up now for the latest news on the North Wales Live Whatsapp community
Two years ago the Welsh Government ran a public consultation on extending PDR but ministers have yet to make an announcement on the issue. The delay followed concerns expressed by residents adjacent to pop-up sites. Cardiff has pledged to reexamine the issue when it next considers PDR amendments but no changes have yet been scheduled.
Mr Yates claimed the Welsh rural sector was being “snubbed”. He said: “There is a huge opportunity here. Wales is a rural country and outdoor tourism is massive.
“Allowing farmers and landowners to run temporary campsites for the summer season means they can earn extra income, more people can camp in Wales and rural communities can benefit from holiday spending. A sector that should be absolutely flourishing is rapidly slowing down and likely to go into reverse over the next couple of years if something isn’t done.”
Freda Shaw, who runs The Boat House pop-up campsite alongside the River Severn near Welshpool, said the PDR impasse was frustrating. She added: “There’s a pop-up campsite a couple of miles away from us that’s just over the border. They can open for 60 days.
“It’s just ridiculous that we are being punished by the inaction of the Welsh Government. Campsites like mine are bringing much-needed money into rural communities. Why are ministers objecting to this when everybody wants it to be extended to 60 days?”
This month the issue was raised in the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) by Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders. In one of his final contributions as First Minister, Mark Drakeford hinted at change, if not the precise nature of it.
He said that, in relation to pop-up campsites, there was a “need to make sure that we modernise the law”, adding that the Welsh Government had “listened carefully” to all parties affected. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
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