The debate over motorhomes on Withernsea’s seafront has sparked quite an extraordinary reaction on social media – and a fair bit of it has been aimed at us.
When we first reported on our Facebook page that signs had been put up on North Promenade discouraging overnight parking, we did so after taking the most basic, essential step of journalism: we checked first.
It was me who took the snap of the sign while on a walk down North Promenade on Tuesday.
The obvious next step was to ask the council whether it was responsible, and we had it confirmed to us that it was. East Riding Council said it had installed the signs as part of a wider initiative, and soon after the authority issued a full statement that we also published in good faith.
And yet, despite all this, some people insisted our coverage was “fake news”. Some claimed the signs were mocked up or even that our photo was AI-generated.
I’ll just point out here again, as I have many times, that we are a small team of local people who live here, work here and care deeply about our local area.
We are not in the business of making things up – quite the opposite. Our job is to check things out properly, present the facts, and let readers make up their own minds. We would ask, in return, that our community trusts us to do that. Don’t shoot the messenger!
That said, we do understand why these particular signs raised eyebrows. They look temporary and flimsy, lack the council logo, and, crucially, have no clear basis in law. The council had not announced in advance that this was happening, so the sudden appearance of the signs inevitably fuelled suspicion.
To some, it gives the impression that Withernsea is unwelcoming – which, in our view, is the last thing our town needs.
I do, personally, also wonder whether this approach was necessary. Was the problem with motorhomes really so acute that hastily put-up signs were the answer?
All they seem to have done is foster greater confusion, mistrust and division. I feel that this was perhaps better left alone until a more permanent solution – such as a permit scheme, as many have suggested – can be found.
Feelings are clearly running high, but rest assured we’ll continue to do our job diligently, to ask the questions and to report the facts. We simply ask for your trust that when we say something has been checked out, it has.