There is still confusion over parking charges in Camber with some visitors resenting having to pay over the odds to park. The problems seem to have started when Rother District Council introduced a flat £30 per day parking charge. Their motivation was an attempt to control illegal and dangerously parked vehicles and reduce the number of cars coming to the beach. It would also have raised much needed funds.
The £30 charge backfired: visitors were put off by the fixed fee and found cheaper places to park nearby, including across locals driveways, on the pavements, and anywhere where there was an empty space, much to the anger of local residents.
This daily charge was dropped but the damage had already been done. Local businesses lost customers and trade, and at least two long-established businesses have since closed down.
Some locals have seen this as an opportunity to earn some extra cash by offering their driveways to visitors with daily parking charges ranging from £5-£10, a lot cheaper than the £6.40 an hour one visitor had to pay last weekend at one of the public carparks.
There are other alternatives. Parking at the Camber Castle pub is available at £10 for the day on a first come first served basis and Poundfield car park offers the same rate and there is more space there.
If you want to enjoy the amazing sands and dunes and are prepared to make the walk to the centre of Camber where the shops and toilets are, park at Broomhill Sands, which is free.
It’s a large car park and at low tide there is plenty of sandy beach but this disappears at high tide. The downside is there is a height restriction on the access barrier which will effect some vehicles and, there are no toilets, the nearest being in central Camber, about a 15 minute level walk away (depending on your mobility). On the upside, Frankie’s at the Beach is a static food van, very popular and seemingly always open, serving a good selection of eats and drinks and with outside seating.
Visitors to Camber may not be aware of the parking alternatives so it’s up to us to “spread the word” but finding a happy medium between putting visitors off coming and protecting the interests of locals is a delicate balancing act. When the summer visitors come to Camber in their thousands, which they will, the local businesses will be delighted to serve them and if they park sensibly and reasonably, taking all their litter away with them on leaving, local residents will also be happy to receive them. Nobody wants to see litter all over the beach as captured in the photo below and just think, how much of this litter ends up in the sea…
Image Credits: Nick Forman , Shirley Bannister , Rye News library .