Ayrshire: Caravan owners protest over beach bridge closure

The bridge from the park to the beach has been closed for more than two years now and families say they have been left with a 40 minute walk to access the shoreline.

On Saturday, a group of angry caravanners staged a protest at the bridge itself calling on owners Parkdean Resorts to take action.

And they unveiled a banner reading: “Sharkdeans: fix the bridge. More 4 kids + owners.”

One caravan owner said: “We have been left with a 40 minute walk to the beach. It’s too much for young kids and those using a disability scooter can’t do it either. It is a busy road.

“The site fees have gone up again too. I paid £3,400 last year, it is nearly £5,000 now. You have to pay £500 for rates on top of that.

“And the security has been cut. You only get the security team in from 4pm, onwards.”

“We just feel they are not bothering their backsides.”

Another Sandylands caravan owner said: “It is head office to blame, not the local management When we have meetings, nearly every question we ask doesn’t get answered. It just gets passed up the chain. The last meeting was so heated…”

A third told the Herald: “The bridge to the beach was key to people coming here. I certainly don’t want another year here if it is closed.

“It made it so easy to get to the beach if you have kids or grandkids. It is no use if the bridge isn’t here. The walk is too much for us. And a lot of people who come here haven’t got cars – just kids.

“My mum has lost rentals here because people can’t take them to the beach.”

 “I have been coming here for 30 years and this is the quietest it has ever been.”

Many said they were being left in the dark about the future of the bridge. In the past Parkdean have said they didn’t own the bridge. But both Network Rail and North Ayrshire Council have insisted it’s not their responsibility, but the holiday resort’s owners.

Earlier this year, the company said it had commissioned a survey on the bridge to establish what work would be required to bring it back into use.

At the time, another resident told us: “At first we were told the bridge was condemned and now we have been told it just needs repaired.

"Holidaymakers are turning up expecting to have access to the beach. Instead they need to walk a good 10 minutes back out the park and into Saltcoats."

The frustrated caravan owner added: "Many holiday home owners are now selling up as the location and bridge to the beach was the main reason they purchased their holiday home there in the first place.

"Even if the bridge is repaired, it is not wheelchair friendly. Parkdean is missing out on a whole section of holidaymakers by not bringing this bridge up to standard."

A spokesperson for Sandylands Holiday Park said this week: “The bridge at Sandylands was closed in July 2021, and this closure has unfortunately resulted in no direct beach access for our holidaymakers and holiday home owners.

"This is a complex situation to resolve, and we are working with Network Rail to review our options. At present we are unable to confirm when the bridge will reopen.”