Feeling cheated
just returned from a few days at New England Bay campsite in Dumfries and Galloway Scotland.
I found the site was in a good location on the bay however a long way from anything other than the beach but what made me feel cheated was the fact that I paid £125 for 4 nights for a site which was only a piece of waste ground with facilities which, although kept very clean were very dated. This site should only be around £17/18 per night ( a fair price). This was all bad enough but I learned that outside the site literally, you can set up for free and have facilities , toilets and Elsan point and water with the same views and the same landscape as the club site. Now given that as members we supposedly enjoy a discounted pitch fee how can the club warrant the prices here.
to make things worse when we were there one of these so called van - lifers was there making a film telling all and sundry about the free park up .
Comments
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Surely before you even booked the site you would have read all the literature about it including the reviews @peatsie and during your booking process you would have been informed of the site fees. From all that information I really cannot see what you have to complain about!
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New England Bay is one of our favourite sites. We know the price when we book and accept it to pitch up in a wide open site in a safe environment. The free council site looks less appealing and the toilet block even less appealing. Does it have showers? I don’t know. And no EHU of course.
But it’s horses for courses and if you were to return to NEB you’ll know where to book. But the free site is first come first served.
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@peatsie lots of Scottish towns/villages have set up overnight stops for MHs and Campervans in the last few years, and they range from excellent to ok. It’s a different touring mindset/experience than booking onto a staffed Club Site with all the usual facilities the Club tends to provide, and you have to do a bit of research to get things right, make sure it’s what you want/need. It’s not for everyone. All you have to do is use the Searchforsites App, and see what is offered at what sort of price. Most only allow MH and Campers, although Forest Scotland has some park ups for caravans. They are not all free by any means, and the facilities vary hugely.
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@peatsie One of our favourite sites, the only thing stopping us from using it more is the time it takes to get there. It's in a fantastic location and I can't understand the waste ground comment about the site. It has some hardstandings and grass pitches and is very well kept throughout. It also has a games room and a playground as I recall.
I would rather pay than use the 'free' facilities outside and also be certain of getting a pitch. You knew the price when booking, which btw at £31 per night is pretty good for a club site. You could have looked on maps to see where it was and the nearest places of interest and you should perhaps have done your homework on those free places, it's not the club fault you didn't .
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we stayed at NEB two years ago on a grass non electric pitch overlooking the sea. We had either three or four nights there. The length of our stay was dictated by what we wanted to see in the area. Given that on a previous visit we had been to the bottom of the Mains peninsula and explored a few other parts there was still plenty to see and do. We took our van off site each day. There was a village shop a few miles up the road and eggs available from road side sellers. In our tour around Dumfries and Galloway we generally only stopped one or two nights on a site. I simply don’t comprehend your description of a waste land. Is this because all the pitches were not in sanitised rows? Absolutely great, say I. And presumably you knew that before you arrived.
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The key to keeping these site in good condition is to charge for a limited stay and use the money for its upkeep and policing. Make them free, with no limit on length of stay and you attract all sorts of undesirables. Is it too remote to be regularly attended to?
peedee
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We toured D&G a few years ago, using a mix of Aires, overnight stops and CLs. Some places are out on a limb, but that’s it’s very loveliness. NEB looked a lovely site, our kind of place, as we would enjoy the beach front, quietness, proximity to Logan Botanical Gardens, cycling.
Whilst on this tour, we were approached by staff from D&G tourism, and we chatted with them about provision for overnight stays, not on campsites. They had recognised a need for more provision, and wanted to find out what sort MH/camper users sought out. I don’t think the overnight stop at NEB was on Search for sites at the time of our visit, so maybe it’s come about as part of this🤷♀️ We payed for most of our overnight stops, ranging from £5 at Castle Corner near Caerlavarock, (HS, waste, water, CDP, picnic tables) to £10 at Kircudbright (HS, marked out pitch, hook up, waste, water, CDP). We also had some free nights using the big car parks (all legal) in the 7Stanes Forestry areas. (Loos in one, you could shower, have breakfast, shop once the visitor centre opened, but with a car park ticket) It’s a self sufficient, do your research, get there early, be prepared for anything, have a plan B touring mode, but we enjoy it. Our dearest site was a lovely Loch side CL at £25 per night, which had all CL basics plus loos, the requirement for us was a safe location to leave our dog after a good walk so we could go cycling together. If we wanted a long holiday in one location, chilling out doing little more than a bit of walking, cycling then NEB Club Site is lovely, but it’s at treble the cost we paid for our tour round D&G per night. It’s a good site for caravans, MH and campers do have other options if they prefer.1 -
Another option we used was Kings Green at Port William. Seafront again but with shopping facilities on the spot. We liked the fact that it was run by the village community with profits going to them .
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