No provision in car parks
I am planning a winter trip along the south coast, staying in Brighton and touring out from there. I plan maticuously so I was looking at campervan parking in the resorts we planned to visit. We love Old Hastings and have stayed there in a cottage in the
past so planned a return visit only to find out that there is no car park without a height barrier in the town which we are allowed to use. I checked through the list of car parks on Hastings town web site and drew a blank. There was a contact form on the
web site so decided to contact the town council. The reply I received stated that the reason every car park had a height restriction was that they could not police people parking up in "vans" and staying for a prolonged period. They advised me that there was
a car park in Bexhill 3 miles away where I could park, I checked on street view google maps and it was little more than a patch of waste land. The last time we were in Hastings about three years ago we spent quite a large sum of money in an antique shop and
my wife bought an expensive coat in shop in Old Town, we also bought lunch and numerous other items for our family. This is the first time I have found no provision in a town reliant on visitors for the parking of high vehicles. I have written back to the
council pointing out their short sighted view. The grey pound is a valuable source of income. Has anyone else encountered these problems. We only have a van based camper !
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That is one of the drawbacks of a m/van,brought on by, as usual the inconsiderate few(and "travellers") who Free Load and stay in places causing problems to local residents,you will find it is getting more prevalant as local authorities try, ,with diminishing money, to control the problem,we have returned to a c/van as when we had run out of sites near places to visit in our m/van where public transport or closeness was not available,
Ps it will not be long before some one will post it is not a problem on mainland europe
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Ps it will not be long before some one will post it is not a problem on mainland europe
Write your comments here...
If someone does, don't be fooled. More height barriers have been erected in France, even in Brittany. In some areas it has become just as difficult to park a motorhome as was described in the opening post.
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IMO this has always been a problem in the UK with people telling other people where they can and cannot park
.You see it written on walls or cones put out in the street that have no standing in law whatsoever and in many cases as the OP pints out the
locol authority are no help at all.v9
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Local authorities are IMO trying (with less and less money) to placate their council tax payers with the ever increasing problems of "Free Loaders" useing their towns as "cheap" accomodation ,getting little if anything in return,and "unoutherised" markings or cones are mostly put out by residents with "problem" parkers
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I don't know if you qualify for a bus pass, but if you do this is by far the best way of visiting towns, even if you are a caravaner. I can think of nothing worse than navigating my way round an unfamiliar town, even with the benifit of sat nav. Much less stressful letting the bus driver to the hard work. Fairlight Wood CC site about 6 miles out of Hastings, is within half a mile of a bus route into the town.
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If only all sites were like that ,(we did Fairlght a month ago) at our age, more so OH a half mile or so walk,is difficult,is one reason we sold m/van,for easier access to places,we still use public transport when available,but as we were finding, a m/van
was more of a problem0 -
Just park legally on the street somewhere, your vehicle is taxed in the same as a car...
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There is also the consideration that MHs take up more than one parking space so you can understand why councils make restrictions. We were in Wells in Norfolk during the summer and there are no height restrictions on the twon car aprk but there were about
10 MHs all taking up two or more spaces! Perhaps they should be charged for the numer of spaces too!0 -
There is also the consideration that MHs take up more than one parking space so you can understand why councils make restrictions. We were in Wells in Norfolk during the summer and there are no height restrictions on the twon car aprk but there were about 10 MHs all taking up two or more spaces! Perhaps they should be charged for the numer of spaces too!
Any decent Motorhomer will have paid for the marked spaces taken up, to stay within the parking regulations. They may well have had two tickets on show, if not they chance a fine.
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I don't know if you qualify for a bus pass, but if you do this is by far the best way of visiting towns, even if you are a caravaner.
A very touchy subject indeed.! My country voted for "Better Together" but bus passes issued in Scotland are not accepted in England. Personally, I think we were conned completely on that one.
And to save a second post, it is not just motorhomes. One often cannot park a Land Rover either due to barriers, or if no barrier parking bays no wider than the vehicle itself. Oh yes - I have climbed out and in through the rear door on occasion!
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My country voted for "Better Together" but bus passes issued in Scotland are not accepted in England. Personally, I think we were conned completely on that one.
Write your comments here...
Likewise senior citizens' bus passes issued in England are not valid in Scotland.....or Wales or Northern Ireland.
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I can't help you on the location you want to visit, don't know the South East at all, but we tour all over with small 5.5m MH, stretching to 6.2 m if we use our storage box. Other than height barriers, we have had no issues, using existing car parks, searching
out the most advantageous spot, or making use of dedicated MH and minibus spots and paying the appropriate fee. We have even made use of on street parking bays at times. If we get the chance, if a parking officer is around, we like to check that all is ok,
and have found most staff very helpful. As HD suggests "motorhome parking.co.uk" will usually give you the best location for where you want to visit. Good luck and have a nice trip.0 -
I am planning a winter trip along the south coast, staying in Brighton and touring out from there. I plan maticuously so I was looking at campervan parking in the resorts we planned to visit. We love Old Hastings and have stayed there in a cottage in the
past so planned a return visit only to find out that there is no car park without a height barrier in the town which we are allowed to use. I checked through the list of car parks on Hastings town web site and drew a blank. There was a contact form on the
web site so decided to contact the town council. The reply I received stated that the reason every car park had a height restriction was that they could not police people parking up in "vans" and staying for a prolonged period. They advised me that there was
a car park in Bexhill 3 miles away where I could park, I checked on street view google maps and it was little more than a patch of waste land. The last time we were in Hastings about three years ago we spent quite a large sum of money in an antique shop and
my wife bought an expensive coat in shop in Old Town, we also bought lunch and numerous other items for our family. This is the first time I have found no provision in a town reliant on visitors for the parking of high vehicles. I have written back to the
council pointing out their short sighted view. The grey pound is a valuable source of income. Has anyone else encountered these problems. We only have a van based camper !Tom, there is free parking suitable for motorhomes on the sea front by Grosvenor Gardens at the end of the promenade at St Leonards. It's used a lot by motorhome owners. I know it's still a distance to the Old Town from there, but not too bad if you like
walking or want to stop for a drink en route, or have a look at the view from our newly rebuilt pier.0 -
We saw the free parking/shanty town of m/vans ,when passing last month on route from Rowen Park to Fairlight WoodWhy the constant stream of venom spat out in any thread that mentions the word Motorhome.....?
seems like a knee jerk reaction to try and 'cast aspersions' whenever possible.....
....but that can't be the case, surely?
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Thanks bandgirl, I will check this out on street view. We only have a small camper van and fit in most car spaces. We like Hastings very much it has an "alternative vibe" about the Old town area. We are up to walking so no problem there. I wonder why the council parking guy did not mention this area to park in !! Look forward to seeing the improved pier.
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Thanks bandgirl, I will check this out on street view. We only have a small camper van and fit in most car spaces. We like Hastings very much it has an "alternative vibe" about the Old town area. We are up to walking so no problem there. I wonder why the
council parking guy did not mention this area to park in !! Look forward to seeing the improved pier.Write your comments here...Enjoy your visit to our rather quirky, but lovely town. We have the traditional Sussex Bonfire procession of the local bonfire societies (flaming torches, peculiar dress, drums, noise and mayhem), bonfire on the beach, and an
always amazing firework display on the first Saturday after the anniversary of the battle of Hastings (14th October), so this year on 15th October, if anyone is around this way and wants to come and have a look.0 -
Tom, by the way, if you're searching for the parking on the map, look for Sea Road, St Leonards rather than Grosvenor Gardens. I was slightly inaccurate with my info earlier. Same place (apart from being round a corner), but it won't show up on the map
search.0 -
Cheers bandgirl ! Found it, thanks.
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