Increasing pitch numbers
I keep reading about the increase in motorhome sales and the fact 50 percent of new Club members are now motorhome owners. With this trend is there not a case for increasing the number of non awning pitches on sites along with a price differential between them and awning pitches? Motorhome owners are less inclined to want awning pitches and such a move should allow more pitches to be created perhaps not on every site but certainly on the larger ones. I would even go as far as suggesting some sites like Baltic Wharf and Rowntree should predominately be non awning.
peedee
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I would say that, currently, BW is a city 'Aire'...ok it has a shower block, but everything about it is similar to that which you'll find in most continental cities....yes, there is the de rigeur 'racetrack' layout, but the pitches are as small as the regs will allow and fits well with the high turnover (but constantly full) nature of the location...
IMHO, for BW (and possibly other city locations) I don't have an issue with the site being totally non awning, to make this scarce resource available to the maximum number of clients..
for other sites? well, it makes sense to match the site facilities to the customer requirements and if this is changing then perhaps sites should too..
the thing is, we don't know which pitches customers would 'really' choose as, currently, they feel they 'must' book an awining pitch due to the perceived view of getting more (space) for your money...
if there were a price differential (non awning cheaper, awning the same as now) then perhaps those MHers would look to a smaller pitch first, rather than the default awning pitches they often don't make use of..
we don't have an awning but always choose an awning pitch for the above reason....if the pitch were (say) £2 a night cheaper, I'd choose a non awning pitch and leave the awning pitches to those that would make use of them.....currently no incentive to do this..
converting a few pitches back to non awning would create a few more pitches and the extra income would offset the lower price....
it shouldn't be beyond the wit of CC to conduct some real life surveys, wardens noting the number of MHs and how many are on awning pitches without awnings, along with a mailshot to owners canvassing views on pitch choice and price influence...
i agree the demographic is changing and CC should be aware of this and responding, but also customers requiring awnings should have sufficient pitches to do so....
im sure it should be easy to get these numbers right, but having loads of awning pitches where none are deployed is possibly not the best use of resources.
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Not often AD, but +1
Additionally the size aspect of a non awning pitch is a bit of a red herring and nothing realy to do with a pitch being non awning.
Before you try and make everything non awning it should be fully understood why some pitches are non awning and it has nothing to do with the size of the pitch. There are pitches that are non awning next to a awning pitch and they are exactly the same size. Troutbeck Head is one example
I remember time when on all pitches on club sites you could erect an awning. Old Hartley club site was a case in point, over night it became completely non awning. The reason being that the 3m spacing between any part of your outfit could not be maintained unless it went non awning.
To have what you describe PD could mean 3m between motorhomes and therefore no space left for those with caravans and cars?
Also there is the cost of changing existing pitches? Better spend the money on more sites or making more pitches by expansion?
Also why single out caravans and stop their fun to make more room for motor homes? Seems a bit discriminatory
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This MH owner always books an awning pitch if available. Club Site pitches are already too small, and I for one would not want them any smaller, even to accommodate increasing membership or more MH owners.
Space, privacy, peace and quiet carry a premium on Club Sites, not often achieved. Please don't start a campaign to lose what little is still possible, by any means.
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doesn't a non awning pitch still allow for a car and a caravan? just not an awning....and can't this be used by either a MH or a caravanner? I think this is what PD is suggesting, if so, I don't see the issue...
as long as there were sufficient awning pitches to satisfy demand, why wouldn't this be ok, too?
the point raised is that the ongoing requirement for awning deployment is getting less (and easily verified by the club) and it makes sense to set up resources to match that requirement...
having a site full of awning pitches where many are not made use of seems a waste of space....
as long as the fire regs are adhered to, what's the issue?
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+1 especially your last paragraph
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I don't think anyone is campaigning for less space, one could still choose an awning pitch, at no extra cost....
i realise you're particularly 'space conscious' (you do remind us regularly) but many others are happy to use a non awning pitch if an awning is not being deployed.....
currently, like you guys, I choose an awning pitch because I can (and would still be able to) but for a couple of nights stay (especially on a city site with high turnover) I'd be happy on a non awning pitch which gives us more spare space than someone with a car, caravan, awning and barrels on an awning pitch....now that's cramped of you ask me,..yet some like it..
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If the club wanted to maximise the potential usage on a site (not knowing what these "future adventurers" we hear about are actually going to want since they are not here yet) it would be quite straight forward to make the pitches continuous hard standing. Just like a supermarket car park, perhaps with grass/hedge between the rows.
Sounds ghastly, but the advantage is that all it takes is repositioning pitch markers at an appropriate spacing to go from awning pitches to non-awning. This could be done on a rolling basis, perhaps even by week, as the demand for awning pitches changes. Or be done arbiterarly to maximise usage in busy periods with no space given to awnings, only allowing space for them when it is quiet.
This is not a new idea, of course. This is how it was managed when sites were all grass.
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The site we are on this w/end has 35 grass pitches and 22 hardstands with 10 non awning, all are full we are on a non awning hardstand apart from 3 all the awning pitches have awnings deployed including the two motor caravans that are on site
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i realise you're particularly 'space conscious' (you do remind us regularly) but many others are happy to use a non awning pitch if an awning is not being deployed.....
Not sure that I see 'many' happy to use a non awning pitch if they are smaller. If they are not smaller how does that promote more pitches? It does not.
Over the years pitch spacing has diminished. Enough is enough.
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...but a single MH on a non awning pitch has far more unused space on it than an awning pitch with a car, caravan, awning and barrels, where it totally fills the pitch.....
i realise that some caravanners have oodles of kit and feel they need as much space as is possible, but a single MH with no awning doesn't need an awning pitch to have space around it.....its the car and the awning that makes many caravanners feel like sardines....we don't....
surely, having a balance of pitches that reflects the requirements of all customers makes sense...and if there are more vans thesedays that are happy to place a single vehicle (with no awning) on a pitch then why not have pitches that reflect that requirement...
i thought we all wanted more pitches and if they meet the regs and the requirements of those that use them, what's the issue...
as long as the club retains sufficient awning pitches to cater for those that genuinely wish to deploy one, a again, what's the problem?
in space strapped Britain, don't we all want to be able to be accommodated, on the pitch type we all prefer....customer choice and associated provision seems the right way to me....
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We're space conscious because we can remember what Club Sites used to be like, and it's partly why we joined. You did get more space! In our early days, we used none Club Sites, but found having to cope with someone's close by TV, radio, children, domestic quarrels intrusive, so we joined CC for a nicer experience. Down the last three decades things have changed, larger outfits, reduction in pitch spacing, Club trying to retain pitch numbers around the large outfits, demand for more HS pitches. Spacing is now a hot issue. We cope by using Club Sites at less busy times, trying to find pitches with more space. Or by going elsewhere.
There are few Club Sites where we sit outside, listening to the birds singing, enjoying nothing but nature. You pick your place, you pick your time. Or we grit our teeth and put up with the proximity of others. Sometimes way too close....... Old Hartley.....fabulous location, but we could watch at least three TVs on our last visit, and it was no more than three good strides in any direction to the next outfit!
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I didn't expect many to agree especially caravan owners fearful of having to pay more for a larger pitch. BB has expressed points of view far more eloquently than I could have ever have done. +2 to them.
Members moan about increasing prices but any suggestion which might help is resisted
peedee
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surely, having a balance of pitches that reflects the requirements of all customers makes sense...and if there are more vans thesedays that are happy to place a single vehicle (with no awning) on a pitch then why not have pitches that reflect that requirement...
That would make those pitches the reserve of motorhomers that do not want a second car on pitch, do not wish to spread out under a canopy on a summer day. This seems to be yet another plea to provide solely for such motorhomers at the expense of possibly 80% of the membership.
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Not rocket science is it? Not anything new. I can take you to dozens of campsites where there are half size/ close together pitches for motorhomers satisfied with that, and full sized pitches for motorhomers or caravanners who want more space. But this Club moves slowly....
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No, I don't want smaller pitches! I like a bit of space, if you want cramped go "over there!" (Looking at some of the more popular aire photos posted on CT!
) Baltic Wharf has a lot of non awning pitches already, the effect is similar to a sardine can but you can thankfully step outside and escape to something a lot better.2 -
We're space conscious because we can remember what Club Sites used to be like, and it's partly why we joined. You did get more space! In our early days, we used none Club Sites, but found having to cope with someone's close by TV, radio, children, domestic quarrels intrusive, so we joined CC for a nicer experience. Down the last three decades things have changed, larger outfits, reduction in pitch spacing,
Very much my view TDA.
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Hopefully, as motorhome ownership grows, lots more local authorities will realise the potential and see fit to provide more overnight stopping areas. Admittedly, it will take time, but it is happening. Then folks will be able to have another choice. I can to a certain extent see merit in the suggestion of places such as RP and BW having less awning pitches. But BW as we know is dangling by a thread, and York RP already has a few pitches so small that anyone deemed "small outfit" is shoved into such a space! We are careful to take measures to avoid this happening if we can!
How about a totally different approach? Leave existing sites as they are, but Club focus on finding something that caters for those happy to be closer together? No awning pitches, but open to both MH and vans, any vehicles parked elsewhere? So sleeping accommodation only on pitch? Towing and towed vehicles parked in a car park? How popular would this be?
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not very
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So sleeping accommodation only on pitch? Towing and towed vehicles parked in a car park? How popular would this be?
Not at all with me TDA. One reason is that we keep tables and chairs in the 'boot' of the car. If we are out in the car they are available and easily accessed on pitch as well or put away when necessary.
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I don't think the Club will reduce none awning pitches, but they might charge more for a big pitch that can accommodate an awning. CCC already use this pricing differential in some places.
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