A HISTORIC beach campsite on Cornwall’s Rame Peninsula faces closure and potential legal action, despite winning planning approval last year in defiance of Environment Agency warnings.

Families who have camped for generations at Sandway Beach near Kingsand and Cawsand are now being told they are trespassing, after Cornwall and Plymouth City Councils – who own and manage the beach – refused to renew the campsite’s licence, citing severe safety concerns.

For almost a century, families have treasured their summer retreats at the campsite. Local fishermen originally set up bell tents on the beach in the 1930s which, over time, have been replaced by canvas and the PVC huts of today. Some families camping on the beach can trace back five generations.

However, its future now looks in doubt, which has led to concern locally and even a petition asking for the councils to reconsider. The petition states: “Proposed eviction notices served by Cornwall Council threatens the end of an era.”

Sandway Beach is owned and managed by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council. Both authorities granted a lease to the trustees of the Sandway Campsite Association for 15 years starting from March 2009. The lease allowed members of the association to erect tents for holiday use only and during intermittent periods of the year on land near Sandway Beach.

In 2013, Cornwall Council commissioned a report which identified risks in connection with the stability of the cliff next to the land. Leading up to March 2024, there were several landslides that caused rockfall to come down close to the tents.

The council asked its geotechnical experts to review the stability of the cliff. They identified a serious risk of danger to the occupants of the land and anybody using the beach for extended periods of time. They confirmed that the risks identified in the 2013 report were still present and immediate today.

Additionally, the Environment Agency (EA) had objected to the subsequently successful planning application because of the risks of flooding and storm damage to the site because of rising tides and increasing numbers of storms affecting the area.

A joint statement by the councils said: “There was also concern that there is no sufficient escape route for the occupants on the beach. If the tide rises high enough and sweeps over the tents, then the beach could well become flooded and the occupants would be trapped; that risk would be even greater if flooding happened overnight whilst the occupants were asleep. The EA has confirmed (very recently) that those risks are still present.

“The lease expired on March 24, 2024 and the association’s right to occupy the beach expired at that point. No further lease or licence has been granted to the association or any other party. This means that the members of the association who have been camping on the land after March 24, 2024 have been trespassing.

“Letters and emails were sent by Plymouth City Council between July and October 2024 asking members of the association to vacate the land immediately due to the risks of immediate danger/death to the occupants arising from the landslips and the flooding risks identified by the EA. The land was vacated for a period of time in late 2024/early 2025. However, members of the association have erected tents on the land and have been camping on the land again since April 2024.”

We understand that the councils may be taking legal action as a result.

The petition, started by a resident of the area, states: “Losing this beloved site would erase nearly a century of community history and tradition, a detrimental blow not just to camping enthusiasts, but to the very fabric of Kingsand’s identity. Currently, the future of Sandway Campsite is uncertain. Proposed eviction notices served by Cornwall Council threatens the end of an era.

“We urge the local authority to recognise the value of maintaining this historical site and to work actively to preserve Sandway Campsite so future generations of campers can enjoy the same profound connections with nature and family.”

Kate Ewert, Cornwall Council’s Labour councillor for the Rame Peninsula, said: “I am gutted about the state of affairs at Sandway. It’s a part of our community and this is a rubbish way to be potentially brought to a halt.

“Locals will remember the site needs to get fresh planning permission every few years and the last application was recommended for refusal – I took the application to planning committee last year and successfully got it granted with another five years permission. The planning authority and Environment Agency said that there was a risk to life from storm surges and spring tide, we argued that the site isn’t used in those conditions and it was safe enough, which the committee agreed with.

“Great, we think, permission for another five years – all good! Not long after, the two authorities decide to end the licence that the Sandway Campsite Association had, due to ‘risk to life’ … this time from unstable land behind. All from a land survey done in 2013!

“Fair enough, the survey said the land was unstable but it’s been granted five more planning consents and able to use the land in the intervening 11 years, until suddenly the 2013 survey is gospel in 2024. I asked for a new full study to be completed, it seems a geological expert reviewed the report and referred back to the 2013 report and said the land is unstable and that’s that.”

She added: “I’ve been speaking to the head of legal, the senior officer involved and the Cabinet member, Cllr Loic Rich, saying give us an up to date study to assess the land. If there genuinely is a risk to life, I know the campers won’t want their families there, but they are owed, after 100 years, the courtesy of a full report and study being done.”