Interesting petition
Comments
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The petition says this -
We ask the club to move with the times and to look to own or manage overnight motorhome parking areas
ie - to provide, at a cost, something which specifically excludes a major section of the membership,
The issue isn't about Aires per se, incidentally, it's about the direction in which the petition was aimed.
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M, brick wall and head spring to mind. 🙄
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Come on Mark, be brave, try out some of your ideas on here. The essential business case, you've no idea? I think the club will need to hear a bit more on that one. If you've no idea, where does the club start? Will you be willing to pay the not so cheap costs of overnight parking so that the club continues to make a profit and recoup it's costs?
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I can see the case for "aires" being run by LAs etc but not by the club, why does the club need to be involved? As said previously the petition is aimed at the wrong potential provider and it strangely ignores the fact that EVs probably will be towing in the future and sites will not be empty wastelands they might even be used by electric motorhomes and electric towing cars. Now there's a thought.
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Good post BB. A definite grasp of the situation. Nobody wants to stop tuggers using Full blown club sites , but in recognising that Motorhomers / Campervan owners often just want overnights in a Camping Lite environment, the creation of Aires, similar to those in France would be absolutely ideal.. The support of Camping organisations in conjunction with Local Authorities would help this project to come to fruition.
K
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I'm all for Aires and I'd be happy for the club to lobby for them.
The ideal providers would be local authorities but they won't rush unless there's more profit in it than car parking. I've just been involved with the valuation of a car park and a conservative estimate is that each space generates about £2000 per annum. For a city centre location you'd be looking at an awful lot more than that per space.
If you set up a formal overnighting area you'd probably need planning permission and licensing
Quite a few local authorities are currently looking to survey numbers following requests from residents to restrict overnighting in car parks
So I can't see local authorities being too helpful
Who would I approach? Pub and restaurant chains. You'd get reasonable coverage if just Toby Carvery got involved
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If you set up a formal overnighting area you'd probably need planning permission and licensing
Why would you need to do that? all you are essentially doing is allowing overnight parking instead of just daytime, its already a car park so what do you need to licence or planning permission for? Ask Mr Sugar or Trump, by allowing usage 24 hours a day for some spaces you can double your revenue, its called sweating your assets!
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Because a commercial car park has a 'Sui generis' use and anything that isn't parking a vehicle would need a change of use.
Occupying a motorhome whilst parked I would class as camping (and I'd probably send an enforcement officer out)
Edit - I should have said overnight occupation
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Jay, I saw planning notices on lampposts in Exmouth but can’t remember exactly what they said.
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Could be done with an exemption. If so that can be done without pp as long as the relevant requirements are met in the same way that CLs are set up
Pub car parks aren't the same as commercial public car parks. They are there to serve the business so fall into the relevant use class.
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Are many larger towns and cities keen to encourage more large diesel vehicles to drive into central areas? I think they are actively looking for ways to discourage them.
Motorhomers may love the idea of a cheap Aire in central city locations but I can't see it happening. Mayor Sadiq Khan doesn't seem too keen, does he.
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It certainly encompassed a change to parking restrictions else I wouldn’t have mentioned it. It also referred to the dedicated car parks for MHs but I can’t remember the details.
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Without wishing to go back over all points about the direction of this petition ( and that seems to me to be the point of contention rather than the establishment of Aires per se), I have to wonder what the actual scale of demand for such a provision is? I'm sure they would be welcomed and used by some but just how many? I ask this because don't 38 degree petitions often raise tens of thousands of signatures within hours? Whereas this one has garnered less than 2000 in five days.
Might I suggest it would have been more appropriately worded and, arguably, gained more support along the lines of "we call upon the club to lobby local authorities to provide overnight parking facilities for Motorhomes to be managed by the club"?
Just a thought!
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