Use of service points
Comments
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As a caravanner, I am also in favour of the Club making provision for MH members to use a "dump and fill" facility. If they are truly the Caravan and Motorhome Club, then MHs and their differing needs should be provided for.
Having seen what can be done elsewhere, it does not seem to me that it would be so difficult to provide this facility. Providing it does not mean approving of so called "wild camping", rather it is a service to members, who I am sure would be happy to pay a reasonable amount. As an add on, non members could also be admitted and be charged a higher fee.
It would also be a service to the environment to show that there is no need for anyone to dump waste in non approved places. If they do, then they should be severely dealt with.
In my home country, Norway, "wild camping" is very common, mainly MHs in my experience. There are numerous places where one can fill and dump.......camp sites, fuel stations, official overnighting places. Most charge for the facility, a few do not. Quite a few are organised by local councils.
MHs visiting the area and the owners spending money on food and fuel is generally reckoned as a good thing.
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I tend to agree with your thoughts. Having just been on the big Hillhead site which has an awkwardly placed but fairly new MSP in the centre of the site (many other sites have similar awkward set ups even with the drive over upgrades) it was a case of fingers crossed on approaching the MSP in case of a queue and limited parking. Getting to this service point and on other sites too involves a circuit of the site. There's nothing convenient about it for anyone. Had sites been designed with easy access service points at the entrance or exit it might be a different matter.
The C&CC does provide access for a fee >LINK< but even this is limited to certain sites and is for members only and isn't always available. So it's not a foregone conclusion that you can just turn up and avail yourself of facilities, other factors can limit the availability.
Probably the Aire type places being developed in Scotland are the way forward for non-site users.
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For such a huge site as Hillhead, there isn't the excuse of 'cramped UK' for the job they've done there...miles from the exit (the most logical place for it, often causes vans to complete two circuits of the site to dump and then exit) and poor space for queuing, especially with such a large number of vans...
its things like this where I feel no one in the clubs design team has ever used a MH nor visited a MH friendly country and checked our best practice for what should be a simple exercise.
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... its things like this where I feel no one in the clubs design team has ever used a MH nor visited a MH friendly country and checked our best practice for what should be a simple exercise.
If only there were some experienced motorhome users they could have asked when designing the site .... 🙄😉
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They are learning to an extent. This new one at Cirencester is just before the exit. The existing one requires half the site to exit and re-enter to use it. Unfortunately, although well placed, there isn’t much scope for queuing if anyone is using it. They are trying though.😀
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Well Steve, if that's 'learning'.....👎
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It’s not all nirvana in relation to MH service points over there BB. True we have only visited with a MH once, but some of the quainter sites that we prefer, had really torturous service points. One only accessible if your RV was very small. Conversely some of the CAMC and C&CC smaller sites have perfectly adequate facilities, even if it does take a bit of time to get there due to the one way system.
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Steve, agreed. Of course there will be good and not so good everywhere, but having started with a clean slate in your example, then a passing place (widen the road) could have been added and perhaps another dump point along from the new one, ie one behind the other?
of course I'm critical, because we see such good examples when we travel, and none of it is rocket science...consider the location for ease access and exit from site, ensure sufficient space to allow vehicles to pass...
...and that's another factor that can cause problems....forcing all non dumping vehicles to pass the MHSP...due to the one way system...
...and the lengthy journeys MH have to make to get around to the MHSP and then exit.....again due to the one way system...
we are on a long, slim site that has a one way system...but the office and adjacent MHSP isn't on it....guests leaving can get there without coming back onto the site and the one way...
similarly, visiting vans using the dump facility (there's a novelty) also don't need to venture 'onto site'.
it's not a massive area, the entrance area to many a club site is equally large but you'd never see a MHSP placed there on a club site, despite being the obvious place for convenience.
there's nothing clever about the one here (in fact it couldn't be simpler) it's just that the access is unhindered..
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Steve, agreed. Of course there will be good and not so good everywhere, but having started with a clean slate in your example, then a passing place (widen the road) could have been added and perhaps another dump point along from the new one, ie one behind the other?
Widening the road to permit queuing would be possible on the right hand side. Currently in decent weather you could wait there now. Although at the ends of the year probably not advisable. It’s where we had our seasonal and gets a bit soft. Any queue could of course obstruct the seasonal pitch access. Lengthening the pictured bay would remove hardstanding pitches, so come at a cost. All in all it’s a useful addition. If in use you are no worse of than currently, if waiting isn’t an option, exit the site / re enter and visit the one by the facilities block.
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The Hillhead service point was moved and re-designed so CAMC had a second shot at this but it's still not adequate. Van design is also a part of this, vans which empty out or fill in impractical ways can be added to the mixture and slow up waiting times.
I've not come across the prefect service point, most are inconvenient or not adequate for the size of the site. Large sites probably need two areas. Seacroft has two, well done CAMC!
Adding passersby to the mix will put pressure on the sometimes limited facilities. I can't see a solution to this without using up more land and space which is often in short supply.
Of course, as I've said before if you want to use a site in the UK just to fill and empty join the C&CC, it can be done on many of their sites for a fee and membership, but it's not a given if it's not convenient for the site managers.
To be honest, if I'm a site user I don't want to be inconvenienced any more than is neccessary.
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Brue, the simple design in my photo caters for all types of van design, left, right or centre drop.
As has be mentioned many times, the large rectangular dump area is shaped to allow the water (from whichever side) to flow down into a central drain, which itself is only small....
in this case the water goes to the horse, by design.
there's even a little foot operated flush button to clean the drain once used.
with the Club MHSPs being flat, it's paramount that the van has to be sited perfectly over the drain grid, this can take time, especially if their is no co-driver to help.
with the system as in my photo, placing the van anywhere on the rectangle and pulling the waste plug will result in 'perfect aim'.
Rocket science it is not🚀
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