The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Pants hung up at seafront in quirky protest
Campaigners have branded new rules for motorhomes in Arbroath “pants” – by draping knickers across a sign at the seafront.
Artists Karen Elliot and Suu Wighton, who call themselves the Pants Collective, are protesting against rules introduced by Angus Council.
They say the new rules – which limit parking areas and prevent motorhome owners from staying more than one night – will drive away business and make the town seem unfriendly.
There is also a ban on the use of caravans, trailers, tents, awnings, canopies and windbreaks, as well as outdoor cooking devices.
The rules were introduced last week after some residents complained about the number of motorhomes parked at Inchcape Park.
Karen said: “Anyone should be able to park up there for as long as they want. I just think that there’s so many rules for everybody, and the fact that we’ve been stuck in our houses through Covid – we need some joy.
“If that means getting in your van and going down to the seafront in Arbroath for a week or two weeks that’s fine – leave them alone.
“It raises money for the town, it brings people in and I’m all for that.”
The artists decided to protest while walking along the waterfront.
Karen said: “We were talking about the new rules and we started saying, ‘It’s so nice to see them here, they bring so much revenue to the town, there’s so many positives.’
“There were a lot of buts in there, we were saying ‘but’ quite a lot and that got us on to pants and we said: ‘Oh, it’s pants’. We started laughing about it and we decided to hang pants on a washing line – traditionally you would hang one between caravans – and I thought of using big pants like that and Suu suggested hanging them on the sign.
“We thought it would attract attention.”
An Angus Council spokesperson said: “Signs were put in place with a view to managing motorhomes staying overnight at this location and to provide guidance to owners.
“The signs include directions to limit stays to one overnight stopover in the designated area, which is suitably surfaced for use by these vehicles.
“While Angus Council will continue to monitor the use of the area during the summer months, we anticipate any visitors using the site will be supportive of following the self-enforcing guidance provided.”
We thought it would attract attention