People are being asked to have their say on how overnight parking is managed at two sites.

Swale council wants to hear the public’s thoughts on Shingle Bank in Minster and Shellness in Leysdown.

Last Wednesday (December 11), the community and leisure committee discussed the issue of larger vehicles staying at the sites for long periods of time.

Several councillors expressed their thoughts, with some saying they were “frustrated” at how long it took to be addressed.

The Shingle Bank defence is owned and maintained by the Environment Agency, whereas Shellness is looked after by the local authority.

Overnight parking has led to complaints from residents and visitors, who feel that the number of campervans and motorhomes is having a negative impact on the area.

There are also concerns over litter, anti-social behaviour and lack of sanitary facilities.

However, not everyone feels the same way.

KentOnline spoke to Island resident Jim Smart, who drives to Shingle Bank to play on his keyboard by the sea and get “away from everything”.

He said: “There’s a woman who lives a quarter of a mile away and spends the whole day here for her mental health.

“Charges would affect the local tourism, as a lot of people go down the pub or to a local cafe when they park here.”

In September, a petition with 488 signatures was presented to the Sheppey area committee asking for it to remain free and open for anyone to use.

The council previously installed width restrictions at Shingle Bank and bollards to stop people from parking on the grass verge and other narrow parts at Shellness.

This helped reduce the number of vehicles but the problems have persisted.

Metal posts installed at Shingle Bank were vandalised and removed with an angle grinder.

Councillors at the committee agreed on some potential options for public consultation.

To address the complaints and find a long-term solution, it is exploring the use of CCTV to deter vandalism and other anti-social behaviour.

The options being proposed by the council for the two sites are:

- Keep the parking arrangements the same as now and be free to use daily;

- Introduce fees for certain periods, such as an overnight charge for all vehicles;

- Ban and restrict access to parking permanently during both day and night.

Cllr Richard Palmer, chairman of the community and leisure committee, said: “We have tried several ways to stop the misuse of these spaces, such as improving the surfacing of the area and introducing width restrictions, all at a great cost to the council.

“These measures did help reduce the amount of larger vehicles parking for longer periods of time, but sadly they have just been vandalised allowing the vehicles to come back in.

“We are listening to our residents who, amongst other complaints, have felt threatened whilst visiting the beach and have had concerns over the litter being left in these areas.

“But we know there are also people who want the area to remain open and freely accessible, that is why we are asking you to have your say on how we manage the overnight parking in these spaces.

“We are conducting this consultation to help us make this decision – we know we won’t be able to make everyone happy, but we want to make sure we use the steer of our community in the final decisions.”

If you’d like to read more and have your say in the consultation, click here.

It will end on Sunday, February 9, at 6pm.

A decision is set to be made in March during another committee meeting.