Queueing at Chatsworth
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Another very weak argument for having big gaps between arrivals and departures is this "narrow access road" thing.
When we left Rowntree recently, we past at least 2 vehicles coming the other way on the access road (they were probably either visiting the park or going to the nearby car park).
When arriving at and leaving Longleat we passed cars, motorhomes, large vans etc on the access road.
At Berwick I can't even remember a narrow access road.
All these were without any drama or fuss. There really is no problem with access at these sites.
The real problem is that the CC don't want to pay for site staff to be on duty all the time. So instead, they inconvenience customers by inserting a huge gap between arrival and departure times.
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"The real problem is that the CC don't want to pay for site staff...."
With our money. We pay the bills.
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Happy New Year to you, too.
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Ian when you have taken up a post to assist us by being a member of the "committee" You will then find out for yourself what actually is the real costs of running the sites network inc wardens wages ,it might suprise you,and then you can inform other "scepticle" CTposters
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it is once on site but as a lot of cc site are busy then its as said go to Ferry Meadows or Clumber Park on most fridays in the busy months to name two that we have used and seen,,But then its a lot less stressfull that trying other forms of holidays
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you wouldn't queue, and there would be no need to book in more than one van at once...merely allow an early arrival onto site if there is a spare pitch....
why keep someone outside at 11:00 if a pitch was vacated at 9:30?
the new arrival can drift onto this pitch (almost unnoticed) and not be any part of an enforeced queue, which will then require space and patience to manage.
a second departure at 10:00 might mean the next arrival at 11:20 can also move straight onto this pitch.....yes, less choice, but far more decorum and less congestion.
still, being the cc, no doubt theyd want to squeeze a few more pence out of anyone arriving before the witching hour......
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The warden staff will be carrying out their core cleaning duties in the toilet / facilities block/ and around the site during the time leading up to the earliest arrival time. Then they are entitled to a coffee break. Hence the office will be closed until the EA time. Give the Wardens a bit of consideration.
Cheers.................K
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i wasnt naming a specific site, merely a process which i have seen working even on the busiest of sites....
a 'busy' site can be made to feel less busy by allowing customers to trickle onto site without impact.
a non busy site can be made to feel frantic by damming up the entrance until a nominal time and then relesing the flood...
its just two different ways of managing the the same thing...
one, with rigid rules based around what the warden's duty list is....
the other, around customers' desires to get onto the pitch and out of everyones way with the minimum of fuss and impact....
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K, nail on the head, the tail wagging the dog....
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Yes BB it all sounds very good but it just would,nt work for the simple reason that if you give people an inch then they will very soon want to take a mile.Take your member who is allowed in at 11.00 for instance then next time he will be at the door at 10.00 expecting to be allowed in and even earlier the next time.Then other members get too hear about it and before you know it there are half a dozen vans knocking on the door at 9.00 all expecting to be allowed in and if its a busy site there wont be pitches available so what are you going to do with these vans ?. Sorry but there has to be a set time for the earliest arrivals or the whole system would eventually decend into chaos for the very reason laid out above.The current system is simple and fair too all members and it works.
v9
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Not for me David. When I travel during April, May, June, July, September and December I cannot say that I encounter much queueing. Generally none at arrival or one or two in the office. I did queue at Chatsworth some 9 years ago and also in the New Forest a good number of years back.
I normally aim to arrive 15 mins after arrival time.
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Basically folk should stick to the time set by the CC for the particular site. However, to say it will not work for any site surely cannot be the case. Edinburgh for instance allow arrivals from 9 am, so I assume it must work for them. I am sure there are other sites where an earlier time would work.
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Yes it could and does work on some sites ,but then ,as i have witnessed(when collecting paper from office) a member getting most annoyed at a member of staff because they were not going to let them on at 1050 (1200 arr time)for good reasons ,as the last site let them on early
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Even in September / early October you can queue on a Sunday at Chatsworth. Both this and last year we arrived about 10 mins past 1 pm and were in a queue of at least 11 vans. Talking with the warden, who was doing an excellent job of traffic management, Sunday is there worst day for queues. Even more so than Friday, as then folk tend to arrive throughout the afternoon, depending when they could get away from work. Whereas on a Sunday it is all the oldies, like us, who like to travel on a Sunday when the roads have less HGV's.
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Maybe I should have added that I don't generally do honey pot sites.
Not a fan of Chatsworth either as it happens Steve. Did queue at Southport one Christmas about 6 years back. I remember it well as there were about 6 outfits on the road outside and I was bursting for a pee and had to nip into the caravan
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That is a bit different JVB. I am certainly not advocating anyone flaunt the specified arrival time. If sites have variable times, it is not that difficult to vary your arrival to suit, having checked earliest time. Those who say it is confusing, in my opinion, just want an excuse to arrive early. If you are going to pick up say, your car from servicing and it is due to be ready at 4 pm, you don't turn up at 2 pm, as you know you will be kept waiting. Why should it be any more difficult to arrive at a caravan site at the correct time.
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We've stayed at Chatsworth twice for full weeks, arriving on Sundays and have found the queueing very frustrating - heaven knows what time folk must start arriving! We're going back for a few days in May and have deliberately decided to arrive on Monday instead. We're not really bothered about which pitch we get; like most CC sites we don't use them to sit around on site for any great length of time.
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Both Castleton and Chatsworth are about an hour away and we like both. However, have been swayed towards Chatsworth due to its service pitches, which we like. However, when Castleton reopens it will also have service pitches, so are probably more likely to go there. Also much less chance of a long queue.😃
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