My OP wasn't meant to sound so judgemental, so please don't shoot the messenger.
Last week was the first time that I'd been in that area for quite a while, and that newspaper headline jumped out at me when I called in one of the shops. (I even spent 50p of my own money to buy a paper that I'd never heard of before, just to keep my fellow wildcampers informed!

).
Until then, I hadn't heard of any problems or disputes in that area, other than the small amount that I'd read on a few threads on here. Do we have any members who live around there who could give us more history or updates on the situation with the council?
The article does seem to be typically skewed against the campervans, as if the day-trippers and tourists don't cause any problems, but we do need to keep in mind the sort of things that the anti-wilding brigade are looking for, and try not to give them too much ammunition to use against us!
Maingate, I may have assumed wrongly about the cause of the blocked toilets as I didn't inspect them, but unfortunately the day-trippers may have assumed wrongly too, and passed on their opinions to others. The conspiracy theorist in me now wonders if they may have been vandalised by locals in order to make life harder for the campers and discourage them from staying there?
Sean, I didn't get any impression of any travellers being there, Irish, New Age or whatever, just your average wildcamper and/or "free-camper". As for what folk sit on, I can't speak for everyone, but I tend to sit on my van step, or maybe a folding chair, or sometimes even on the sand or grass!
Kimbo, I don't think it was you that I saw in that area, or I definitely would've come across to say hello, and get the autographs of such a distinguished bunch!
The idea of the council ignoring a few wildcampers, or even providing basic facilities in return for a small fee sounds good, but might not please the local campsite owners or residents who are usually behind these complaints. As I've said, other, more local people may know a lot more than me about any problems or history of conflicts with the council and campsites in that area.