Club AGM 2020
Comments
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I know my two pennies worth will be "ignored " or ridiculed by some?
,But as posted before m/caravan waste points until it seems by a big margin (according to salespersons) ,Equity release and Pension pots by older? members has made a big increase in the sale of such vehicles were it seems, not the problem that some less able have now ,and want everything done yesterday for them to cope ,Instead of in the past making a more serious attempts to get the manufacturers to make waste emptying outlets on M/Vans more user friendly instead of blaming sites including CLs/CSs for not catering for the poor outlets
That at the moment is for the minority of users?
Dogs have always been a bone of contention by those who do not own "mans best friend"and even more so in these dangerous times ,and as posted there is a lot less spent on dog walks than about anything else on sites (if allowed )
Which was i think answered quite well with the questions asked via the AGM and will come under even more ridcule when what is asked for filters down to site fees increases
Ps the comments about "site management"is also down to the attitude of resposible members ,to bring anr "problems?" to the site staff who ,with our many years membership in the vast majority of cases do their best to resolve, but reading some reviews it seems were never brought to site staff notice in the first place
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I have toured overseas for 40 years and must have been to several hundred campsites, but cannot honestly remember a single one which had a dog walk. Why are dog walks on Club sites regarded as such eseentials?
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Totally agree....It certainly was not my intention to open up a discussion on 'charging for dogs' on this thread.....I was simply responding to the answer given to the question at the AGM...
As a finale..I do agree that the 'dog' question is more about certain members not adhering to the rules, than a 'charge'...but one has to admit that 5/6 dogs in a 3/4 windbreak enclosure, off lead to boot, will at some time cause a problem..
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Brue
I noticed that in answering the question on dogs (although they didn't really!) they mentioned the Pods. I didn't realise the charge was as much as £10 per dog which seems pretty high and probably set as a discouraging factor. £10 would buy an almost extra hour of cleaning!
I suspect the Club have a major dilemma with the question of dogs as they clearly get a lot of complaints about dogs from one half of the membership but the other half love the idea of having their pets with them on sites. I would be surprised if anything changed any time soon.
It looks as if we are in for some big changes in the booking system in the next year or so.
David
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I think many club sites are very minimal and families have little provision, someone questioned the removal of small playgrounds and the response was the demographics of site users didn't require the provision. Are we just heading for retirees on sites, had I thought about these issues I'd have asked a question on this subject too!
I know the response on here would be "we used CLs for our families." But CLs are changing too.
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To some dog owners they aren’t necessary EuroT.
If you are a dog owner like us, your dog is taken for a proper walk, either on footpaths adjacent to a Site, or out in the vehicle elsewhere. The real issue is that there is a percentage of Members now that do little more than amble a few hundred yards very slowly around the Site, possibly just making it to some strip of nasty scrub that isn’t up to the Club cramming another pitch onto it, and that’s Fido’s treat until a last minute similar before bed time. In between you get a bored dog that is tethered and left to yap and bark, owners so immune to the noise they probably don’t even notice it.
Some Club Sites have fabulous Dog Walks adjacent, two I can think of are Hawes and Barnard Castle. We have had pitches next to each, and yet have been astonished to see folks walking pooches round Site roads and going past dog walks. Lots of other Sites are in Country Parks or near Coastal pathways, yet dogs are still slowly led around Site roads.🤷♀️ In Winter, tent areas are like a magnet for those too idle to go off site. We saw this three mornings on the trot at Tredegar, and that has a Country Park at the gates!
It doesn’t happen on CLs. Site owners will have a word if dogs foul pitches. It doesn’t happen on small private Sites, again staff monitor it. We have seen two outfits ejected off Sites for not following dog exercising rules. Both had previously been warned.
The Club actually has good rules around taking dogs onto Sites. They just aren’t being adhered to because it’s too easy to ignore them for some, with no repercussions. So all dog owners get the hassle.
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An extra £10 for a dog is cheap compared with a lot of other overnight stays DK. We have seen up to £40 per dog charged in some cottages, £20 being the more common price. Travelodge charge £20 per dog. Per room, per night. (Mind, no one counts the dogs you take in at Travelodge🤔) There are lots more places that don’t charge at all for dogs nowadays, simply because with so much holiday choice, they don’t want to lose the custom of dog owners.
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they don’t want to lose the custom of dog owners.
I suspect that is one reasoning behind the answer (or not) given at the AGM...although in reality dog owners have no where else to go, (except the other club.....at the moment !! ) so a reasonable charge would not deter them from carrying on their membership.
A plus side to a charge.....given the number of dogs on site....would enable the club to purchase outright a premium site location every year..
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When the questions were up on the website I printed off the list. A limit on the length of questions does concentrate the mind and stops people making statements rather than asking questions. Having said that I would have preferred a few more words just to provide emphasis to my question. As it happens it looks as if they are going to do what I asked so I suppose I shouldn't complain!!!
David
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I know my two pennies worth will be "ignored " or ridiculed by some?
,But as posted before m/caravan waste points until it seems by a big margin (according to salespersons) ,Equity release and Pension pots by older? members has made a big increase in the sale of such vehicles were it seems, not the problem that some less able have now ,and want everything done yesterday for them to cope ,Instead of in the past making a more serious attempts to get the manufacturers to make waste emptying outlets on M/Vans more user friendly instead of blaming sites including CLs/CSs for not catering for the poor outlets
JVB
I don't think it's a case of anyone being ignored or ridiculed, you are perfectly entitled to your view. However you do have to accept that others will have a different view. I am not sure it's the Club's position to persuade manufacturers to change the method of waste water disposal on their motorhomes. It's more a case of accepting the status quo and dealing with the situation accordingly. It was good to read that 104 sites have been upgraded with another 14 in the pipeline. What was slightly worrying was that there were 42 sites where progress is in a bit of limbo because of land ownership and lease arrangements. Despite the possible difficulties of lugging a full Waste Master to a disposal point at least caravanners know that when they get there they have an almost trouble free emptying point?
David
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I would not expect either of the clubs to "persuade?"the manufacturers a letter to their trade body from both Uk major clubs pointing out the "problems " that are affecting some members ,by their lack of thoughtful design with waste outlets may have some influence?for their UK at least markets
Your Bailey i would think as our friends waste is so close to the ground!!
When we had our Autocruise ,we always had it serviced at their Factory (bought from Marquis
) and were in the process of modifying their M/Vans to how i had done ours, as when the design team via the service manager saw it they realised that such a cheap and simple mod allowed me to empty the waste without the dance at emptying points 
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But at a quite large outlay by the club/s for a minority
membership
and as said at AGM also whether it can be cost effective on some sites ,Much cheaper all round for M/Vans to have proper outlets in the first place
The Americans seem to be able to do it
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Spot on, Brue. However, it’s more of the same old so as we all know.😅
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the outlet on my Autocruise was only as poorly designed as the majority of M/vans ,but if they hade not suffered the devastating floods of a few years back ,they would still be leading the way with quality of build and innovation in design would have shown how waste outlets should be designed
But then Swift bought the name and production facility as they have most great marks for them to come down to swift standard?
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I'm not sure what design feature of MH waste outlets is going to lift manhole covers 😂 and spare my back.
At Lower Wensleydale the Manhole has a grid cover and can therefore be used as a mini drive over disposal. Perhaps a cheap way of handling the 42 sites which are in limbo.🤔
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Commons wood have that sort for some years ,but the club had a claim made against it after a "lady?" in high heels broke her ankle when for some reason? went to her pitch via the M/V service point,which put any more on hold ,must have been a positive for the club to have introduced the later more expensive type
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Perhaps that is a quick and easy short- term solution. The other alternative is to drive one's MH close up to a normal service point and run a two foot length of pipe into the grid so thoughtfully provided for caravanners.
Might cause a bit of a queue while the waste masters stack up waiting for 100L of grey water to drain away though but both courses of action would save wrestling with manhole covers.2 -
Our waste water tap was situated very conveniently. The issue was driving over a manhole cover and then needing to lift said cover to empty the tank. I have reversed to get the position but it's no better 😱 To ensure that it emptied into the hole once revealed, it needed to manoeuvre close but not too close, so you could lift said cover without having the motorhome blocking a clear lift and back injury. Virtually impossible. And if only the designers of said service points hired/borrowed etc a few different makes it might give them an idea of the issues.
If a disabled person chooses a motorhome/campervan to suit their disability then they should readily expect to be able to be self sufficient on all counts, it could be looked at as an equality issue?
I'm sure the wardens would be delighted to be asked for assistance everytime folk found lifting the manhole cover difficult. Maybe that would focus the club position? I struggled and now as a carer any injury would have a knock on effect, so wouldn't attempt to lift a manhole cover - not an everyday task for most folk!
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One accident? Pretty easy get out clause if you didn't want to resolve the issue in the first place.
There are lots of grated drains in various situations countrywide, and probably lots of folk who'll try to sue rather than take responsibility for their own actions......
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The mod i designed and fitted to our Autocruise encompassed what you "suggest" and would have been standard fit to all their models if they had not "gone under" with their factory and service centre being flooded
But even now quite often M/Vans "block" other service points rather than queue behind several others to empty ,or fill up on their way to a pitch
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And the uprated MHSPs have grated drains so that's the stiletto heel theory blown to pieces 👠😆
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