Commercial Benefits of Motorhome Towns - Campaign
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..and many do likewise with their PVCs...one of the great advantages of a small van and hence their popularity.
but, equally, there are compromises that some don't want to make and wouldn't be happy with the accommodation that a PVC provides.
small is certainly beautiful in some instances (we do notice how much easier our slimmer van is to drive on our congested roads) but sloping PVC sidewalls impact on space in the upper part of the van and can make it feel noticibly less spacious than a straight walled coachbuilt of a similar 'footprint'.
agreed, parking can be a pain but there are always workarounds as TW shows...
here are a few...
get a small van (as above)
go elsewhere (always a popular suggestion)
use public transport
bring other transport with you (towed car or ebikes or even legs)
not for everyone, I'm sure, but we also 'go out' everyday but can do a 20 mile radius comfortably on our bikes.
keeps us fit, too, and can have a nice pub lunch/drink without worrying about driving back to the site.
when 'touring' we move the van every few days (sometimes after only one night) and 'explore' the area in as much dep before moving to the next stop.
we don't need to travel miles because, if we wanted to explore that area in detail, it would be the next van stop...
totally different to the 'out and back' process used when staying longer term in one spot.
another way for us around the parking issue is to use CL/THS type sites which gets us close to the type of impromptu touring we do 'elsewhere'
pre booking sites for a decent tour at the time of year we are in this country (April-Sept) doesn't do it for us, the 'no booking and pay on departure' style of THS sites suits us better and has a familiar feel to it
yes, parking van be a right pain but folk get around the issues in different ways.
i don't see LAs going overboard to help MHs, especially as the next govt 'tax initiative' is likely to have an impact on sales.
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excuse me, where in my post did i imply that people who raided their pension pot did not still have a pension pot. My point is that there are many out there who have raided there pension pot to fund a MH/Caravan or anything else for that matter, but I am sure many still have sufficient funds to provide a pension. My point is that if the rules had not been changed then large amounts of monies would not be available to many for the purchase of such items.
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You certainly implied that, all the new rules have done is bring forward the choice to 55 instead of say 65 when yo can draw 25% tax free so not sure it will have a big impact in the long run apart from some people maybe running short of funds in their dotage and relying on the government for help as there is no incentive to save and have funds as you are then charged for any help you may need bit tha'ts another story I guess.
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Love this chat , ime vanner brother m/h .height barriers were put in many years ago to stop you know who parking up and leaving loads of rubbish .. Now they just find private roads and cant be moved until residents have to pay .. i digress ..the large amount of m/h now on road who think they can still drive down country lanes like a car baffles me ..Point about towing small car , wish we could all afford that ..As for parking in towns i this country ,my disco just about fits into parking bay ..M / h are great but surely common sense ..you cant treat it the same as a car ??
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As for parking in towns i this country ,my disco just about fits into parking bay ..M / h are great but surely common sense ..you cant treat it the same as a car ??
so very true but my observations lead me to believe that quite a few motor home owners, lets say of the older generation, have probably never driven anything bigger than a family car, and treat their new MH as it is just that, you would not believe the number that ignore the 6'6" width restriction on our local Tichfield road, and the number that park facing the sea with their posterior hanging out into the carriage way, maybe the club should have MH driving courses in the same way they do caravans.
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the number that park . . . with their posterior hanging out into the carriage way,
That is what happens when I park my Discovery in very many places! I also have side-steps fitted so I can get out the door and slide along as the space either side is also often so limited.
I don't think it is a particularly big vehicle, especially if I am one of three adults sitting in the back seats.
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I certainly have no wish to drive our MH, which isn't huge at 6.94m down narrow lanes and struggle to find somewhere to park it. When abroad, we will make use of Aires when we want to get close to towns, or in France the municipal campsites are often ideally situated. Here we just tend to pick our sites a bit more carefully. Even with the caravan we liked sites with public transport, as I much preferred leaving the car on site as much as possible. Probably only using it to go shopping. If the site is more remote, we now just make sure we have 3 / 4 days of provisions and then move on and restock on route. Sites are picked for good walking and nearby places of interest. Although we do plan to get some ebikes to increase our range.
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I agree that a lot of car parks both supermarket and L.A. seem to have been laid out with measurements to accommodate vehicles from the 60s before "safety" crash cages?were included in vehicles,just note a real mini and the bmw"mini?"we followed a rover 100 (1960) and that was a big care back then but it looked tiny compared to our Sportage
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Steve, OT, sorry....but just a quick one....parking on French village side streets or even in larger towns isn't that difficult.
we tend to do it more when passing through and stopping for a couple of hours rather than taking the van out from the site....our bikes fill that job easily.
french supermarket carparks are also huge and under occupied so finding somewhere to tuck away is easy....Lidl now provide a number of dedicated bays.
all this breeds more confidence in getting where you want to be.
glad you're having fun.
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Do you know why side steps were fitted ? To stop cars banging doors into ours ..Bit of useless info
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The real purpose of the side step, or running board as it was originally called, was so that one's riding mechanic could get out and work on the engine while the vehicle was travelling.
Must dig out my pair of leather driving gauntlets - they reach up to my elbows.
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I thought the club did run MH courses.
6'6"? Is that MH's or Tesco delivery vans? You do seem very possessive of your patch at Hillhead.
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well as i have stated previously, we have a beach house that backs onto the Tichfield road after the Nature reserve and this is where the width restriction is, and a couple of years ago a MH trying to reverse out of what was a tricky situation tried to reverse into our community, gateway, fortunately for us but unfortunate for the MH the gate is very sturdy and made a bit of a mess of the MH, but MH's still chance their arm, not as many now as the LC has clamped down on overnight parking in all our areas. But rear end protrusion is a problem and as you know the road in places is very narrow
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yes correct . my mistake ..were you the mechanic or driver ?
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OP, I think trying to get British LA's to follow the Continents lead as regards Aires and Stellplatz is flogging a long dead horse....it isnt going to happen. They are cash strapped and cant even keep open public toilets where they are desperately needed...let alone Aire type facilities.
Day time parking is a different kettle of fish, increasing the size of SOME parking places only takes a pot of paint and the available space.
Motorhomes pay their road tax the same as a car (3500kg and under) so in ALL respects should be treated the same as a car, in terms of onstreet parking, causing an obstruction aside, the laws should be no different.Commercial vans and Motorhomes if the same size should be treated no differently when parking.
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Ray, agree that if the govt are to strat taxing vans (under 3500) as cars then the playing field has to be level...
equal provision based on equal (or significantly more) contribution.
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Driver. The mechanic didn't get gauntlets to keep out the cold - just grease on his hands.
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