Aires in the UK
Comments
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+1 added to the point I made about using public money to provide them
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iBut the very point is "to lobby"which i would think means to who ever they think would listen and be willing to subsidise the running of such facility ,
As posted by those who abide in tourist areas they are , it seems, the most vocal against any additional visitor facilities ,in just the places that others want to set up Aires?
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I suppose that where aires might attract users around many areas car parking is often at a premium and rather than maintain an aire with the spacing that would be required in the UK it is simpler for the entrepreneurs to sell parking spaces
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would appear not everyone is as enthusiastic about this idea
article from The Scarborough
William Lythgoe, of High Mill Drive, counted 31 motor homes of varying sizes which were camped overnight for free on the Scarborough Borough Council-run car park next to the Sea Life Centre, a week last Sunday.
The council has covered the parking metre as there are no charges from November 1 until March 1 next year on this siteMr Lythgoe, himself a motor home owner, told the Scarborough News: “The first two parking rows closest to the coastline were filled, every other parking lot, with mostly large motor homes which meant that it was more or less impossible for a car to be parked between and the occupants to get out of their car.
“I feel that these motor home owners are abusing the public parking facilities and as a Scarborough council tax payer, I through my Council Tax, are subsidising their free sea view parking.
“There are many organisations that run rallies all the year around for groups of motor home users who wish to camp together.
“If Gypsies were found to be parking on a popular public car park they would soon be moved on.”1 -
Do not include me in your rather sweeping statement regarding people who dwell in tourist areas, JV.
I refer you to my posts on page 1 of this thread.
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I can only assume that the gentleman is of the NIMBY brigade and would prefer the car park to be completely empty during the winter, as would be the pub nearby. The landlord, who also has a MH would be delighted I'm sure, but you can't please everyone. As to his comment regarding gypsies, they have taken to using a plot near the old swimming pool not too far away most summers. Soon be moved on ? erm , not in my experience.
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Yes, 'sweeping'. 🤨
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The local authority took a dim view of motor homes using the Marine Drive and Royal Albert Drive for overnight stays and in the end suggested the very car park now being used as a suitable alternative. Even in the summer months the car park is free after 6pm but the number of overnighters during the summer are often fewer than when the sites nearby are fully open.
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I should have given you the full article as below
Mr Lythgoe said some motor home abusers claimed that they were spending money at local businesses.
“I and my wife Jennifer called in to the Scalby Mills Public house adjacent to the car park which does serve evening meals, the public house was nearly empty,” he said.
“There were many motor homes on the car park with lights and their televisions on, obviously not using the local facility except for the convenience of free parking, promenade lighting and sea view.
“I am a motor home owner myself, but I do feel motor home owners should act responsibility and have consideration for other people who visit the area, and not commandeer the best positions in public areas.”1 -
When we had a MH pre caravan, we used a resource 'Camperstop Europe' that is still available. We bought the annual book and SD Card with the POIs loaded for our then Garmin sat nav.
The book is akin to the CAMC handbook giving details of each listed aire du camping car / stelplatz etc.
We used aires in concert with campsites as we covered long distances on tours across Europe.
Distances may be the differentiator between Europe and the U.K. Our use was often at the end of a long drive, sometimes through the night, as we felt tired would look up nearby aires on the sat nav and head for it. Some of the most amazing experiences were arriving in the pitch dark, to wake up to a view across the battlefields of the Somme, some remote mountain in the alps, on the Baltic coast in Poland, a small village in the Massif Central, on the riverside somewhere in the old east Germany.
How we used to describe to people was in Europe it's 'hello, wilkommen, binevenue, enjoy a meal, buy some bread and cheese for lunch, stay a while, enjoy our environment, come again. In the U.K., naff off, we don't want you. That'll be a fine if you park there.'
To follow le tour using aires is a fantastic experience, or tour the routes of previous tours stopping when you choose is a different holiday to booking a site up to a year in advance, or hoping there will be a vacancy.
The future holds opportunity in the U.K. shopping centres are going bust, cheap to provide an aire on unused land before they get converted to housing no one can afford, that will sit empty for eons. Plenty of money available to bail out banks, the current COVID-19 response is only 20% of that bill. Foreign travel won't recover for many years, so make hay while the sun shines, invite holiday makers / visitors into your locale by doing something in place of finding reasons not to.
Give people the opportunity to help and they will, as has been seen in communities across the land.
Example durdle door, lots of noise about crowding, but the land owner happily took the money day in day out. Other places put safe measures in place and are being supported. Cash flow is king, the economy is circular, keep it flowing.
unsure what the sticker price of an outfit has to do with provision of aires or anything really. Our MH was sub £20k in 2006. Current outfit when bought approx £100k on the sticker, but didn't pay that. We use CLs, club and commercial sites and if available to caravan, aires.
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Tour post is OT dave, but I've asked you tow/three times if you think that these new Uk aires should be paid out of public finds and you haven't answered?
You'll probably reply something about you gave up answering teachers...
But a fair question to ask and my main point all along.
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I guess you think that's clever🤷♂️. Never mind.
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Dave, where did I say I already knew your answer if public funds should be used to pay for these aires?
OT dave, but I've asked you tow/three times if you think that these new Uk aires should be paid out of public finds and you haven't answered?
You'll probably reply something about you gave up answering teachers...
But a fair question to ask and my main point all along
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I think part of the issue is now simply the sheer numbers of MHs trying to park up, in lots of areas, for free. Ownership has exploded in this country in the last decade, particularly the last five years or so. And, many of those owners are not from a camping/van background. New to the life owners, taking to the roads and wanting to spend as much time out as possible. Many are making the rules up as they go, they simply won’t have the mindset of a Club Member, because they have never been in the Club. So it’s only the moral compass that keeps things clean and tidy, and for some, that won’t include blocking the sea view of a local resident, or the occasional emptying of grey water down a drain. Not illegal, but not nice for locals.
We watched things escalate year on year at Marazion, down 15 years, all months of the year. It went from half a dozen mainly foreign outfits, quietly overnighting, to the whole seafront bumper to bumper, foreign and UK plates, some staying for weeks on end, never moving an inch. One Summer it was so bad you couldn’t even walk along the front for all the camping extras of chairs, tables, bbq’s alongside the sea wall. Getting on and off the beach was well nigh impossible. So the Council had to do something. That moved the issue down into Long Rock car park, still lovely but with the added frisson of the shunting yards at the rear for the Riviera sleeper etc..... But that got abused as well, so it’s seems a total ban on overnight parking is in place in all CCC car parks.
I think some well thought out Aire type provision would be nice, fill in the gaps in many places, and support the ability to just have a budget stop over, rather than a one price for all even for eight hours type of stay. How to fund them though, not sure. Might work for local community somewhere in remote Scotland, with donations initially from visitors. But I still think the need will outnumber the provision in the Summer months.
We benefitted many years ago from a kind EH custodian. Honeymoon in Northumberland, Warkworth Castle in our tiny camper van. We got chatting, explained we were looking for a campsite for the night. Would we like to stay in huge car park at the castle, away from prying eyes, and I will leave the car park loos open for you? Those were the days.....😁
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There is nothing to stop someone setting up a small motorhome park (planning procedures needed first.) This is what my daughter's friends did in their lovely part of Scotland. There are many ways to make provision for motorhomers, carparks are probably the least attractive but it's good to have variety.
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Wow, that one is filed away brue, simply stunning. We know Croabh Haven, gorgeous location. That’s the sort of place we bought our MH for, simply heaven to stay somewhere so lovely.
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LLM - Our Community Manager informs us that there is currently a fault on the system for permitting new members the approval to post. I have 'reported' your posts to highlight that further investigation would be appreciated.
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So Arfern is the only site in Scotland that discriminates against trailer caravans . . . ?
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