N.E.C Temp Site October 2018
Comments
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We came by the site today and it was pretty full, mainly motorhomes so clearly well used despite the cost.
David
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I suppose while there are people prepared to pay the high price, and I understand it is full most if not all nights, prices will remain high. Fortunately it is a day trip for me but if I wanted an overnight, it would be my last choice of where to stay.
peedee
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If as DK suggested up thread, the price reflects the cost of setting it up, then if folk were not prepared to pay the prices, it just wouldn't be viable to run it.
We also are able to travel there / back in a day but I can understand those who can't paying for the convenience of just hopping on a shuttle bus, rather than staying off site and having to drive in.
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Steve, the 'normal' car parking is included with the ticket price. MHs can also be parked there for free.
IMV, the issue with the CC temprary site is exactly as you say, the set up costs....
however, these costs are not required.
im sure the majority of folk park for one night with a small percentage staying for two nights...? i can't see that anyone would want to stay there longer than that....
so, you have to arrive after lunch (to wait for those leaving to exit) and you have to leave before lunch to make way for the incoming vans.
this means you probably won't visit the show day one, you've missed a lot of time, and it closes late afternoon/early evening, so you stay in your van and visit the next day.
to do this, you'll need to move your van to the public car park at around 9:30 and visit from there, and then drive home (or elsewhere) that evening.
so, you've arrived at, say 2pm, you have to leave at 9:30am...you're on the 'site' for 19.5hrs....
back to my 'issue' with the 'set up costs' ......who needs the provision of an EHU for 3/4 of one day?
even discounting the 'entertainment' it's the huge unnecessary rank of generators and cabling that costs the money.....to acheive what?
vans arrive with fully charged leisure batteries, everyone has gas.
why does anyone need a hook up for such a short time?
its only 6amps ....1300 odd watts....this can only run a Combi on its lowest electric setting (900w) or an ALDE on 1kw.
as running other appliances at the same time is likely to cause problems, most will use gas if heating required, similarly gas for any cooking and most TVs are 12v.
...so why bother at all?
without all this unnecessary infrastructure, the costs would be massively reduced and extra space for more vans would be available.
if these are the costs that have to be passed on to the customer, don't have those costs in the first place.
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I think the C&CC were the first to establish a site at the NEC, they gave it up, possibly because the rental demanded by the NEC was too high? The CMC took it over. Setting up EHU could cost as much as £6 per night. The National is now also all electric which for me is off putting because it again puts up the cost of just a few nights on a grass pitch of dubious quality. Warners shows are better value.
peedee
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Despite all the protestations to the contrary the site is clearly popular and people are willing to pay the price. What is the incentive or need for the Club to do things differently? For those not wishing to use the temporary campsite there is the option for free parking during the day which it seemed many hundreds of motorhomers were taking advantage of.
What does surprise me, in a way, is that the NEC don't organise the camping on a more permanent basis as there are probably lots of shows where attendees might be using a motorhome, or a caravan?
David
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Last year I stopped on a public car park at Stratford for an overnight fee of a couple of quid and had a half hour drive in the morning, arriving in time for the opening at 10:00. I had had enough well before closing time.
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David, you are fortunate to be able to comfortably get up and back in a day, it's not so easy for some.
if I want to do it in a day, i can drive the car, and park in the car park, a five hour return trip. pretty exhausting on top of a days tramping around.
i could do the same trip in the van (and park for free as you say) but what's the point, it just costs more to get there...
so, I'd much rather stop over but it won't be to hand over £36 or whatever it is....
those vans you see in the car park are either driven up and back the same day or have made some other sleeping arrangements as they have to move (somewhere, home or to a 'site') at 6pm.
yes, its convenient to stay on the club site, but IMHO it's an over managed, over priced facility....which is why I don't use it...
to stay on the cc site for 19 hrs or so doesn't require any fancy kit like solar panels, refillable gas or the like......pretty much any old caravan or MH can operate in total comfort for that length of time without the requirement of a hook up.
i have two free tickets in my pocket but I don't see the club site as good value....I dont want EHU and I certainly don't want some dubious 'entertaining'.
remove that and we could all park overnight at a sensible rate.
id pay a tenner, or perhaps even £15 at a stretch.
i realise this view won't make a jot of difference and the club will carry on ramping up the price as it does with its sites.
£36 for a car parking space is taking the mick in my book.
id rather park at the Harvester up the road and have an overnighter after a meal..
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BB
It may not be a particularly long journey from MK but no way is it a comfortable one given the road works and the density of traffic. I now wish we had gone by train it would have been far more relaxing. Funnily enough Margaret and I had a similar conversation but on a slightly different tack. The bus to and from the station would have been free. The train fare would have been about £20 for the one hour twenty minute service or £40 for the Virgin service taking about half an hour. I would have preferred the latter but Margaret thought it too much money so we went by car!!! At least we didn't have to pay for tickets. So there are all types of choices available to everyone. There are probably quite a few campsites around and about that would have been shorter journey to the NEC than Milton Keynes for you had you wished to do it that way. Unfortunately things are as they are and as I have said previously whilst the Club judge it to be a success at current charges I don't see that it will change. I think if we lived the distance away that you do my choice would be to stay in a budget hotel and travel by car or rail. Either that or build a visit to the show into a longer trip with the show being a one day diversion.
David
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Perhaps they charge what they do to make club sites look good value.
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a 'budget' hotel on the NEC complex was around £250 for a double room.
a hotel a little further out (requiring driving) was around £160.
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So surely BB you are not at long last recognising that the nightly fee charged by the CMC for the temporary campsite is good value
David
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the C&CC THS at Croxall farm is around £10 a night, I think it was £8 a couple of years ago when I last used it.
so, David, none of this will ever convince me that CC aren't providing an over the top facility at an over the top price....
good value? no chance. the going rate for CC, too right.
last year, in the car, we suffered the horrendous traffic jams in leaving the site being reported on another thread, a similar 3 hrs just to reach the Mway.
so, to avoid this, it seems it's better to leave in the morning, rather than at the show closing time.
this means driving up in the van early in the morning, parking in the free car park (as you can't get on the CC site), visit show, move van to CC site at (say) 6 pm, sleep in van, leave (say) 10am.
doing it this way round, we would now have spent a leisurely 16hrs for our £36, even 'better' value...not than the 19.5hrs spent when doing it the other way round.
as I said, I'd 'happily' pay even £15 for an overnight parking space, no entertainment, no EHU, just parking.
anyway, that ain't going to happen, so I'm not going to stay there.
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I just took pot luck, no problem getting a pitch for two nights at Croxlall Farm.
peedee
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