Cayton Village Site, the future?
Excited to see the latest development in the site network marketed under the "experience freedom" website. Camping pods, statics, chalet's, tents, Campervans mixed with tents, plus mobile catering units, Motorhomes and caravans. If they could find a corner squeeze in something like a premier Inn I could bring the mother in law. Think I'll stick to CLs. But I guess surveys have identified customer / members demand for this?
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This is a club run website , one wonders what the definition of a member's club is exactly?
Or page 10 latest magazine
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I see nothing wrong with what the Club has done with the refurbishment of Cayton Village. It is an exceptionally large site so installing a few static units is unlikely to impact on the site that much. We visited before the refurbishment and hope to go back. It is a very convenient site for visiting Scarborough and other places south to Bridlington, especially if you don't have your own transport. The only thing that surprised me about the refurbishment is that it didn't include a bar/restaurant.
David
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Personally, I think the Club is right to experiment with different types of accommodation within the context of a 'camp/caravan site'.
There are folk who enjoy the feel of a campsite who perhaps are no longer in a position to tow/own their own kit and who want to continue to get closer to 'the great outdoors' and who are not that interested in hotels or even guest houses or the like. A camp site offers a 'certain atmosphere' which may be unlikely to be achieved elsewhere. There are those who perhaps want to experience a site for the first time, or who want a holiday with friends or family who do have there own kit. This make sites like Cayton Village really useful.
Couple this with the possible uncertain future.... possibly smaller vehicles, with less towing capacity... should we be looking at alternative types of accommodation with in the context of the site or 'great outdoors'.
The CAMC have a variety of different sites/pitches/ accommodation within the same context - I see nothing wrong with that.... from field rallies, CL's, grass pitches with no electricity, hardstandings, serviced pitches, yurts, airstream caravans, pods and more 'static' accommodation. Some of those sites also have to provide a variety of accommodation according to the local authority/ lease requirements. I think the Clubcshould conti ue to have a wide appeal.
Just my personal thoughts...
David
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- But is this not a big diversion of club funds paid for by members into facilities few will take advantage of? Marketed on a website run by the club with no reference to the club. Were the membership referred to in favour of this diversion of the club resources. Or is the club being hijacked into a totally commercial operation where members interests are diminished in favour of profit?
I wonder how much these "dream venues" cost relative to err "normal " sites, many of which could benefit from upgrading for motorhomes or improvements to basic facilities.
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I think that the mobile catering units will suffice in the absence of a restaurant.
Running an anonymous parallel website for 55 club sites seems strange when financed primarily by members subscription and fees. Maybe the organisation should just become a commercial entity?
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Does the new website not push the club into purely commercial territory? Why not add on a hotel franchise or air BnB where does it end. A totally inclusive club is by definition not a club but a commercial enterprise.
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I am not sure how they are financed, whether the Club is solely responsible for providing the finance or whether it is done in conjunction with another company? Probably something we could do with some greater transparency on.
I don't have any objection to this sort of accommodation being provided on Club sites but tend to agree that there some sites which require a lot of investment which is currently lacking but have Pods. Moreton in Marsh springs to mind. The fact that they have refurbished Cayton Village it does make sense, at least to me, that they are installed at the same time as the touring side.
David
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http://www.experiencefreedom.co.uk/
I agree with your points , all of which are satisfied by commercial sites. Our club is now competing in this market with members resources. There are 55 sites funded over the years by membership subscription and site fees marketed on a club anonymous website. When is a club not a club?
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Hi vialorem,
I guess it's all relative, really. The number of 'alternative accommodation' units is really small in comparison with the overall number of pitches available. There are a handful of folk known to me personally who are Club members who from time to time, take advantage of alternative accommodation. For example, there are some friends of ours (Club members) who, because of illness, now will sometimes use 'alternative' accommodation' when we go away as part of a group, rather than take their own unit. Probably quite difficult to quantify, as a whole.
I always think of the CAMC a a Club running a business, but I don't feel as if the Club is hijacked into a 'totally commercial' organisation. The Club has to be run in such a way as to be secure financially, but profits ar ploughed back into the Club for the development of facilities and sites for members Alternative accommodation is small in comparison with the number of pitches available for members. I am aware that the Club Council have discussed alternative accommodation.... as well as what to do to encourage younger families.... and as I have written elsewhere, sometimes the Club is obliged to provide types of accommodation in order to secure the lease of a site or to comply with local authority requirements. Some sites have provision for tents too - it sometimes has to.... otherwise the Club would not be allowed to develop the site.
David
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I think your title says it all, V. It is the future.
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Having had trouble booking pitches on CLs and clubsites this autumn it will be interesting to see how the "anonymous club commercial website" booking Vs club website booking works on the 55 sites .
First come first served? Profit before discount?
Member priority? 😉
Article of association
4.1 to maintain and conduct a club for the benefit of the persons, including mobile caravanners and those connected with mobile caravanning, who are admitted to Club Membership in accordance with these Articles
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DSB makes the observation that it may be looking to "future-proof" against reduced towing capacity in the future. If that is the case then caravan manufacturers are rather short-sighted in introducing ever larger caravans to their line-up.
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V has just got me looking at the "experiance freedom " off shoot of the club ,and it got me thinking about pirch availability? when looking at the M/van,and Campervan hire ,there are tours that can be followed including club sites ,
Does that mean than sites on the tour routes will have to keep pitches available? thoughout the season/year on sites ,for if and when a hire vehicle may want to do one of the tours and how many ,Especially on one tour, as Rowntree Park and Knaresborough sites are included which are difficult for members to book already?
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There are 225 touring pitches at Cayton, this part of Yorks is popular for static van users so the proportions of provision look OK to me. The site previously had a very large seasonal pitch area. I think the club have got it right for this particular site and area.
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more concerning for members who use the club sites a lot, is what else have the club got up their sleeve that they are not telling folk about, dont suppose the AGM touched on these areas ??? The club could end up looking just like many of the other well known holiday parks
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DSB, I accept much of what you say and might take adavantage of the alternative accommodation - if only it were better, but the quality is just not there. Providing sheds on sites will not attract many older people. And younger folk will not come to join their families because of the members only rule.
if the Club wants to run modern all inclusive campsites open to all - with bar, restaurant, indoor pool, sauna, hot tubs and all the rest - then there are plenty of examples for them to follow. After all the Club already sells pitches on sites like that all over Europe, sends staff to inspect them, prints a glossy booklet with photos of them - and they know what members go for.
There is a long night way to go before Cayton Bay can match the top quality five star sites.
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The sister website to the caravan club.co.uk looks like solely commercial enterprise to me. I would welcome the club to convince me of any benefits to its membership and explain the funding of this activity. Surely one "inclusive" club website would suffice, one that could well have been upgraded to deliver a better experience for the cost of adding a complete club anonymous website.
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