Haven ....never again
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Here's the rule
It's an exemption from permitting rather than a permission. However you do need to register it to comply fully
Planning permission is not required in most cases for any use of land not exceeding 28 days in one calendar year. You need to check for uses other than camping as some are 14 days and some are prohibited in SSSIs
edit - cross posted with you Fish but this is not bar room advice
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Stayed at Devon Cliffs once. Never ever again.well whats wrong with devon cliffs then
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we are trying Crealy tomorrow for a few days....weather looks good, close to Exmouth/Topsham and the Ex estuary cycle route into Exeter and Dawlish....
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It's a lovely area, BB.
I've not heard anything about Crealy so await your report with interest.
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we wusually use a CS in Topsham....but the cost has spiralled with the advent of a shower block...
we've also used Devon Cliffs a few times (keeping OT...) but met Crealy staff at the NEC and they were looking to get a higher touring profile....
ill let you know my thoughts..
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we are trying Crealy tomorrow for a few days....weather looks good, close to Exmouth/Topsham and the Ex estuary cycle route into Exeter and Dawlish....
Amazing value at £11.25 without electric and £15 with.
Free WIFI as well
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Crealy it's very popular with families, I expect
it will be busy at half term. I'll be interested your thoughts.Brue, i reckon we'll be 'outa there' before half term, but will be there on Friday when the rush starts....
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we are trying Crealy tomorrow for a few days....weather looks good, close to Exmouth/Topsham and the Ex estuary cycle route into Exeter and Dawlish....
Amazing value at £11.25 without electric and £15 with.
Free WIFI as well
in order to offset any 'wet pitch gremlins' as upthread, we have taken a superior 10m sq serviced HS pitch at a heady £17
the staff did say that there had been rain overnight (which we had, too) so i didn't want any 'damp' issues influencing my overall impression of their set up.
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My experience has certainly been that on most sites grass is the last to go even in good weather.
Good point about Daleacres. I wondered why so many on grass. Not usual IMO on most CC sites. There are 41 none serviced hard standings I reckon and 81 grass. With those odds it is one site I would normally avoid.
No need to worry - it never rains here in Kent
Or it could be that Daleacers sits on shingle bank with a few inches of dirt on top.
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we are trying Crealy tomorrow for a few days....weather looks good, close to Exmouth/Topsham and the Ex estuary cycle route into Exeter and Dawlish....
Amazing value at £11.25 without electric and £15 with.
Free WIFI as well
in order to offset any 'wet pitch gremlins' as upthread, we have taken a superior 10m sq serviced HS pitch at a heady £17
the staff did say that there had been rain overnight (which we had, too) so i didn't want any 'damp' issues influencing my overall impression of their set up.
OK, arrived at Crealy at 11:55, access road new and wide, only 2 arrivals today, including us. check in just confirmed where we were 'supposed' to pitch, but were told that any free serviced was ok.
we chose a pitch, there are 9 other vans sited here, all caravans so dont know if folk are out for the day or they are 'seasonal'.
site and pitches level, hs area around 3m (for the van) with grass to the side for awning etc, plenty of room.
all roads are hard and access to any of these pitches would cause no damage even if used in poor weather.
service bollard on coener of pitch, i just pushed the hose into the water inlet, turned on the tap and by the time the tank was full, we had the leccy plugged in, the dish aligned, the gas on and the kettle on the go....coffee by 12:15 so that was a cinch.
just had a recce of the (touring/static) site and the thing that stands out is the modernity of the place.
around 15 brand new 'statics' in their own area, reached by a new bridge over a stream....., same sort of number of 'themed' medieval tents and safari tents, again new, each with aga type cooker, large, well made looking beds etc....
next, the shower/loo block...
again, totally modern, certainly a notch (or two) over typical CC fare, more akin to the Concierge Camping site we were on last week....two main differences.....around 10 loos and showers against the (intimate) two of last week, and the other thing is the price.
£17 for this is a steal and even the grass pitches (which looked to be in dry enough condition for a van like ours) which are also serviced, looked great at £15.
now, a proviso.....we are virtually on our own here, in an oasis of calm.....but check out the google maps sat view and you can see full site and full car parks.....
so, like Haven, i would suggest avoiding weekends and BHs.
so, initial impressions, exceeded expectations......
it might be a place for us to get together as a family....two MH, and will need a lodge of sorts.....
oh, and the free wifi works a treat.....
top marks, fantastic value on first viewing.....
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Nice report, BB.
Haven 0 : 1 Hoseasons
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Nice report, BB.
Haven 0 : 1 Hoseasons
....there is an 'adventure park' on site and it only costs £4.95 to go in and the ticket lasts for 6 days.....how about that for value...
while i agree its not everyones thing, a great way to allow the kids to let off a bit of steam in an appropriate environment and a nice stroll round the lake at the bottom of the site.
first issue for us (i knew it beforehand and having just walked it.....) is the speed of the traffic on the Sidmouth A3052, and the lack of any cycle/footpath for a good half mile or so heading west towards Exeter....after that, its not too bad and we will be on familiar territory.
similarly, there is a back way out of the site onto quieter roads but, while manageable on foot, it would be a right pain on the bikes.
ok if youre happy to take your MH off site or have a car, and there is a bus stop rigjt outside the site.
still, we'll give it a go tomorrow...
ps.....the other guest has arrived (on a grass pitch a little way away from us) but no other cars seem to have returned to the other 8 caravans, so im guessing 'seasonal' pitches...
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Just looked at this for April 2017 what a price. We stayed at Haven this year at the same time £178.00
Fri 14 AprSat 15 AprSun 16 Apr
13 Nights £439.00 13 Nights £425.00 13 Nights £425.00 14 Nights £462.00 14 Nights £462.00 14 Nights £462.00 0 -
Just looked at this for April 2017 what a price. We stayed at Haven this year at the same time £178.00
Fri 14 AprSat 15 AprSun 16 Apr
13 Nights £439.00 13 Nights £425.00 13 Nights £425.00 14 Nights £462.00 14 Nights £462.00 14 Nights £462.00 Haven wins for me
Write your comments here...
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Brian, were you quoting the Crealy prices....i have only looked at the ones for this week (low season, hence my desire to try it at a low occupancy/cost)...
update....showers truly lovely, all chrome touch controls and domestic/hotel oversized tiling, and along with heated floors a really a very upmarket set....lashings of hot water....me in the gents and OH in the ladies....hardly a demand on the system.
sun is blazing down at the mo.....bikes to Otterton Mill shortly....
have a good day all....
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although the pitches here at Crealy are all serviced, i thought i would check if/where the MHSP was so that i could just dump the waste in one go, rather than bother with getting my pipe out
young lady in reception said, whats a MHSP?....so i explained and she said 'what a good idea....we are making some improvements over the winter, we will look at this.....'
they mainly have caravans here (so far), so a MHSP is a bit of a foreign concept.....but nice to hear a receptive response....
i also asked about their winter closure as i couldnt find the dates online.....(and we might like to try it year round...)
ah, she said....'we have had a lot of folk ask this question, so we are weighing up the pros/cons/costs of staying open....'
so, again, a positive response to customer input.....
now, Crealy Meadows is only in its fourth year and is certainly learning but seems very happy to get the customer view a d give it due consideration....
remind you of any other touring organisations.....?
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just back from todays ride to exmouth and, as expected, the site is filling up. although it will be pretty well full by tonight, not too bad at the moment....we have one guest on our blind side but clear on the other side for a good distance.
the site is quite spread out and might not be too bad (comparatively) when full....ill hold fore on that one till the morning....
we are going to pop into the theme park tomorrow, guess what...they even have a parking area for MH and caravans so that they can use the park on the day of departure (or arrival prior to getting onto their pitch).....
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Your comments about the positive response to site improvement suggestions is interesting, BB.
Imagine the response to similar suggestions to the site staff on a CC site! Would they be in the slightest bit interested in your views? (the answer, by the way, is No!)
Not really a criticism of CC wardens, because I suspect that all suggestions to Grimstead Towers meet with a similar response.
If you are lucky, after about 4 weeks, a standard reply along the lines of "Thank you for your correspondence. Your comments are appreciated and will be considered by the appropriate department" followed by the sound of your message hitting the bottom of
the rubbish bin.0 -
i mentioned upthread that Crealy sits on quite a busy road....to Sidmouth. although the noise is not too bad, it is a definite no-no for walking (other than to the bus stop) and the first mile of cycling is not for the faint hearted....
so, as we like walking and cycling, i did my usual scan of google maps to check for all possible routes....and exits..
at the rear of the site, to the south, a road runs right through to a stream....cross the stream and youre off-site, the road is a track which becomes a tarmac road (with the same official name).
so, effectively, the stream has just cut the same country road in two...
we hopped the stream, (a small bridge was out of commission) with the bikes, and the lane took us to the Woodbury road....cross this and drift down into Ebford, and then the Exmouth road....cross with traffic lights and arrive at the Exe Estuary trail.....less
than 3 miles from the site...so, i mentioned this access to reception and she said that it sounded like the bridge needed a little TLC and that she would mention it to 'maintenance' for the closed period...they realise that the main road would put off those without a car or bus passes....
so, we used the 'stream' exit/entry three days running and it kept us (virtually) traffic free all the way to exeter and exmouth.
interesting to see how they approach this one...
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The problem is once again we are not comparing apples to apples. BB is talking about 1 site (similar to those abroad) where they are trying to maximise profit/occupancy whereas the CC has 200+ sites . It's easy to change 1 site especially if it's yours but
to make a change at 200 takes a little more planning and resource and of course as we have seen on here different members have different views so what I or BB think is a good idea lots of others don't.I did ask at sandy balls recently about a MHSP as we arrived full but was met with blank stares so had to manually empty the grey water on the pitch using the fiamma but they didn't seem interested.
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michael, a few metres of grey corrugated pipe to guide the water into the drain is a useful (and cheap and light) extra to carry.....
re, the club having more sites.....yes they do....but the club doesnt have to change/develop every site in the same way...at the same time..
not all of their sites will require the same attention...
not to address an obvious issue just because it costs a bomb to do it at every site is a nonesense....just fix (at low cost) what needs fixing....where it needs fixing.
also, when considering rolling out large, wide spread improvements, remember....the way to eat an elephant is in small pieces....
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That sounds l like a sizeable TUSK to me.....
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