Overnight campers' action
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It’s not too late, Husky. 😀
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These "overnight" bans puzzle me to a degree. How can they be enforced? Councils seem sufficiently constrained that they are unlikely to pay a warden 'night shift rates'. Even if they did, how could they tell if someone was asleep inside a van with blinds drawn, it may just be parked there and empty?
I know that the regulations are occasionally flouted at Portchester castle car park. The sky has not yet fallen in.
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when crossing Spain, one stopover we've used in Teruel is located in the Plaza Guardia Civil and is right opposite the Direction General de Trafico building...
we actually thought this was quite comforting and slept very well
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MichaelT, have you not read this thread? Who do you think pays to have bays marked, for them to be cleaned up; for any payment facility to be operated and enforced etc etc? If I thought my council was paying anything at all for these facilities I would want it stopped and the money transferred to any of the many council budgets trying to provide actual services to council community charge payers.
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Think about it logically, yes initial outlay to provide a car park same as any other car par that any other person from anywhere in the world can use DOH!
Then of course all these people then PAY to use said car park facilities which then goes into the local councils coffers, it is the same for any leisure facility such as swimming pool, park, football pitch etc. etc.
So please remove those blinkers and look at the big picture, more visitors means more income for local traders, museums, tourist attractions etc.
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so, all paying car parks should be shut as it costs money to paint the lines and collect the fees....?
I see you're a caravanner, so you do your shopping in your car...perhaps we should shut the car parks to everyone as they cost money to run?
however, I'd like to think that some clever chap/girl at the council will have set the rate to accommodate such costs, unless they are happy to absorb (some/all) the costs in exchange for visitors (in cars or MHs) injecting a little back into the economy....
ive said I'm happy to pay a sensible rate to park...I do it with my car so why would I not be happy doing same in my van?
economics works in mysterious ways and tourist towns without industry rely on visitors coming there to spend a little money.
i visit many seaside (tourist) towns and the scenario goes something like this....drive to town, park(pay), have a stroll, do a bit of shopping(pay), have a bit of lunch(pay), might get fuel(pay)....
thats a 'normal' type of day visit....nothing specific....the spend may be more if coming for a particular purpose.
im sure I'm not alone in spreading my disposable around my own area
..and when away in the van, the scenario is very similar, pay for parking, get supplies, visit pub etc....
you may think I'm some blood sucking sponger but my wallet says otherwise
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Councils have a much wide ranging responsibility than that, parking being one of them. The Council here in MK makes millions in parking fees every year which at the end of the day helps to subsidise other much needed services. Obviously each case must be investigated by Council officials but even if the benefits, in terms of parking, were cost neutral there was bound to be and added benefit from extra visitors spending money locally. All I would say is for Councils to at least start from a neutral position and do the investigation to see whether it would work for them. For some it might not but for others, especially in tourist areas it could have a good pay back. Unfortunately this does not overcome local prejudice against even thinking about it as an option?
I wonder what would happen if Central Government made a small fund available to councils to provided these facilities. My guess is that they would be all over it like a rash and suddenly we would see parking spaces suitable for motorhomes spring up in the most unlikely places!
David
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I don’t reckon it’s as silly as some of the misguided comments about MHs and, in particular, Cornwall that keep cropping up in this thread.
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As usual for this forum, Motorhoming has come under fire from the Caravanning fraternity. A fraternity who are far from blameless when it comes to extended stays not on campsites. . Too often we see lines of caravans , mostly posh newish vans in lay-bys, on public parks, even on sports grounds. Where do they put their waste, I shudder to think. We all choose our accommodation based on our needs, let's be nice about other people's choices.
K
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why are all you MH'ers walking around with a chip on your shoulder ?, perhaps it is because you know there is an elephant in the room "free loaders" which in some areas have been addressed by the passing of local bye laws by local councils in a range of different ways. Some are trying 2 year trials on a "suck it and see" basis, some like my own are introducing car parks with height barriers, car parks where overnight habitation is not allowed, therefore addressing what is conceived to be a potential problem before it becomes one, and what might work very well in one area does not neccsaserily work in another. Yes within the caravan fraternity we have people who are "free loaders" but in the main they come from a certain part of the community that consistently break the law. I dont think we can compare Mh's in the Uk with Mh's in Europe. Mainland EU is a vast area in comparison to the UK. e,g Spain is nearly twice the size of the UK with a much smaller population, however, "wild camping" predominantly by MH's, is now being frowned upon in large areas of Spain, perhaps somebody can enlighten me as to why they think this is when they seem to have more than sufficient area for this not to be the case ?. The same can be said for the various counties within the UK, what might suit the Cornwall community may not suit the Hampshire community. As JVB66 has said "we choose our accomodation based on our needs" , if we all were to use this accomodation sensibly and legally we would not be having this debate on here.
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Why do you find it necessary to insult fellow club members, Rufs?
I only see one person in this thread with a chip on his shoulder and I think he’s a wannabe motorhomer.
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curious as to where the insult is ???yes you are right i did want to be a MH owner, and did pursue this very vigouresly, however, the practicalities of say e.g. getting about with a dog, the possibility of running 2 cars plus a MH, the limitations on space after using a 7.3 mtr caravan for a large number of years led me to the decision that not yet.
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"As usual for this forum, Motorhoming has come under fire from the Caravanning fraternity. "
And this statement from someone who didn't want the thread to turn into another caravan v motorhome debate?
So do enlighten us, K, what do you interpret as "as usual" and how many different members of the "Caravanning fraternity" have said anything criticising MHers in this thread?
Why do you persist in promoting this imagined us v them debate when, as far as I can tell, there is precious little evidence of it?
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Central government have made a fund available to LAs to install infrastructure for EVs but the take up has been very poor,and that is for a " every one must have" project so a "fund" for what is proposed on here is IMHO not going to get much support from LAs
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I don't think there is a need for central government to provide funding, we aren't ever going to end up with the sort of Aires system that Europe enjoys...
however, funding for a few white lines and an upgrade to a ticket machine to incorporate MHs osnt expensive or rocket science.
what is difficult is to convince folk like the OP that all who drive MHs aren't pariahs..
some will be just out for the day from a campsite, looking for somewhere to (pay to) park while exploring the area...
however, some will be looking to (pay to) overnight (and then move on directly) after, perhaps, a meal in town....
are either of these groups bent on the destruction of the places they visit?....of course not...
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+1
the only one who keeps mentioning this MH v caravan is K
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It very much depends on the local council. Here in MK we have lots of charging points for EV's. Now that could be down to a forward looking Council probably helped that is is likely to be easier to install such points in MK and in more traditional towns.
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