When is a CL not a CL?
A bit of a tale first..... We recently booked 8 nights on a CL. The club book listing says 'comm site adj'.
Part 1. On arrival at the CL we found that we were allocated onto the commercial site - apparently it's not only adjacent, but run by the CL owner! When queryin g why we hadn't got what was booked his reply was 'I run it all as one site - it's too difficult
to do otherwise'.
I think my expression told him what I felt, and thankfully before I levelled the caravan, he was back saying 'I've managed to fit you onto the other part of the site.'
Part 2. Club rules, see handbook page 283... no more than 5 caravans etc...at any one time. So why did this CL owner have 6 caravans/motorhomes on his CL for the first 7 nights of our stay?
Please note that we didn't 'rock the boat' at the time as we were with friends who were staying on after we left.
The club's opinion is welcomed on both points..... I will supply the CL name on request.
n.b. friends have also received similar treatment at a completely different CL - is this a commom problem?
Comments
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You need to contact CC direct about this, AJB. It might be picked up from the forum but it's unlikely.
I think you should name and shame on here and also write a review in order to alert other members.
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I think it's only fair that you warn your fellow members, AJB, and a review would be the most helpful.
It doesn't really matter what CC say as the review is a reflection of your own personal findings as a result of using the CL.
If I went to that site I wouldn't feel well disposed to anyone who knew the situation but failed to mention it in a review.
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I will review the CL - but the guidelines on the review page asks that complaints are directed to the club first. I've asked for a quick reply, adding that I intend to add the review next week.
I agree entirely that we should share our experiences - that is exactly what the review process aims to do.
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Be good to know the name of the site(s), so we too can give them a miss.
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You can review it factually with enough info to let others be wary. You don't need to complain, as such, in the review.
Nellie (above) is an avid user of CLs. Let's try to help him and others avoid the pitfalls.
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It is worth remembering that it is the ‘Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.’ (A quite complex piece of legislation) that lays down the conditions/rules that govern 5 van sites. The CC has a duty, as the Certificating Body, to ensure these
condition/rules are met on CLs.0 -
As has been mentioned on several threads ,that any CL or CS owner who flouts the 5van capacity not only faces their certificate being revoked ,but also puts in jeopody the excemption certificates that all eligable clubs are granted under the legislation as mentioned in the previos post which would mean All CLs or CSs having to close
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Question was there a difference in the nightly charge for the cl/commercial side of the site?
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when I go to a CL , it's to have a different experience from a larger site. I want the calm of few vans and countryside setting. I'd be very disappointed to find I was part of a bigger setup. Thankfully Google satellite usually helps here. And our review section. I do use bigger sites too, but for me it's a matter of meeting expectation. I concur with the OP.
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We have stayed on so many CL's and CS's over the last few years where the comrecital site and the CL/CS are divided by an arbitrary line and have never had any problems!
As an aside one site had a CL and a CS divided by a hedge, and then a commercial site next to them. Did it spoil our break. NO!
I am glad that it didn't spoil your break but it would have spoilt mine. I use CLs because I like the idea of being one of just five vans on site and often not that many. That is what I read that I am getting and that is what I expect. Why can the type of CL you stayed on get away with flouting the Trade Descriptions Act and tell me that I am getting a five van site when I am not?
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Many CLs adjoin other sites and it's not usually a problem, especially if you know in advance, but the biggest issue here is the OP initially being shoved into the commercial site and being told it was all run as one site. He was then grudgingly allocated a pitch on the CL which contained 6 units.
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Thanks for your comments -
This CL was separated from its' adjacent commercial counterpart by a hedgerow - but it WOULD have spoilt the break if we couldn't have been with the frirends we wanted/expected to be with on site. Plus the fact that we had booked on a CL expecting the 5-van experience but placed on a 20-van site!! I think the trades description act ought to apply too (:-).
We don't all want the same thing - but that is why we exercise our choice and use CLs on some occasions not big sites etc..But the biggest issue for me was being misled by the owner! and his blatant abuse of the rules. Long may the CC act on our behalf, and police this behaviour.
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Yes, come on AJB and help your fellow members.
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Firstly, I'm not procrastinationg - I'm in contact with the Club's CL dept so I'll be guided by them. But I WILL name as early as possible.
For the moment, and in the interests of everyone else, I will reveal that the CL in question is soutn and west of Birmingham. Hopefully that will allay the fears of a lot of members - and give the Club time to do what they need to do...
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On the odd occasion that I've been offered an overflow I just leave. I pay my membership and if I book a CL thats exactly what I want. If all members did that the few rouge CL owners would soon stop pushing the boundry's. Likewise if I turn up at a CL
and there are already 5 or more vans on site I try and speak to the owners and then leave!0 -
A couple of weeks ago we stayed on a CL near Tewkesbury - using as a 2 night stop over on the way to Devon. On the CL was 5 units but on the other side of the access lane (approx 20m from our van) was another field with electrics and had 6 more units on.
All new arrivals pulled onto our field (full of course) before finding the other field. Not good and yes an email was sent off to the Club. They have passed it on to the CL team to 'take a look' - whatever that means...0 -
This site has a CL at the back of the site but visitors are able to use the main site. Didn't cause us a problem but wasn't what I was expecting
http://www.fieldsendfishing.co.uk/main-caravan-park
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OK - the time has come to reveal that the CL that caused me all the hassle was CL 786 - Cuckoos Corner (Hereford).
I am about to review the CL separately on their page on this web-site. Please note that it will be mainly Good to Excellent EXCEPT their ability (or unwillingness?) to operate a booking system for a 5-van site!
Thanks to all for your comments. I understand that the CL department will be adding a footnote to this post.
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Thankyou, AJB. I trust your review will mention the problems.
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Over-occupancy has been around for a long time. I remember back in the mid eighties staying on a CL that ended up with more than five vans so the problem has been around for at least thirty years.
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Hi everyone,
I have a repsonse from the CL Team here at Head Office:
Some land owners who operate a Certificated Location (CL) with the Caravan Club may also have additional camping/caravanning activity on their land which is licenced by the local authority. If this is the case, the Caravan Club would expect that additional
activity to be completely separate from the CL with no shared facilities and that there be no cross marketing between the two activities.We do our best to notify members via our website or in our Sites Directory and Handbook if there is an adjacent commercial site. As it is inappropriate to market a commercial site off the back of a CL, members should be absolutely certain when they make
a booking that they are booked onto the CL.A CL is for a maximum of 5 units ie: caravans, motorhomes or trailer tents at any one time and any breach of this rule if reported will be investigated by the Caravan Club.
Should members identify owners who may not be complying with the conditions of their CL Certificate or are placing members on an adjacent commercial site when they expected to stay on a CL, please email us at
clresponse@caravanclub.co.uk or send a short letter to the Caravan Club at East Grinstead House with their findings and any photographs should they be available0 -
Hi everyone,
I have a repsonse from the CL Team here at Head Office:
Some land owners who operate a Certificated Location (CL) with the Caravan Club may also have additional camping/caravanning activity on their land which is licenced by the local authority. If this is the case, the Caravan Club would expect that additional activity to be completely separate from the CL with no shared facilities and that there be no cross marketing between the two activities.
Rochelle,some months ago I queried the existence of shared facilities and another member of your staff gave a different answer,in effect stating that shared facilities were acceptable as long as it was made clear in the site description, I have always understood like you that shared facilities were not acceptable.-
Thank you for your e-mail about WC facilities on Certificated Locations.
In order for a new CL to open, they are not required to provide WC or shower facilities. If CL owners choose to provide them we assume, unless we are told differently, that they are for the exclusive use of members. However if we are informed this is not the case, we will look to either remove or at least advertise these facilities differently making members aware that they are shared facilities.
If you are aware of sites that we are perhaps not advertising as ‘shared facilities’, please let us know and we will update our information
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We stayed on a CL earlier this year which was infact 2 adjacent CL's, each had 7 hardstanding pitches. There was also an 'overflow' field with 2 hardstandings. They were separated by hedges, with rubbish and recycling bins in each field.
Apart from that, facilities were shared (i.e) showers, toilets, CDP, grey waste emptying. Also a shared entrance drive. I'm not sure if this is allowed?
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