C&MC Tourism Aires
Reading the latest magazine about developing tourism, has any thought been given to the club getting more involved with attractions to provide more formal parking and potentially stopovers for caravans and motorhomes? Having bookable places in a dedicated part of the car park with nominal charges for overnight stays? Maybe partner with National Trust or English Heritage? I accept probably not of much interest to caravaners but certainly motorhome tourers are sometimes deterred by disorganised or hard to access parking.
Comments
-
Craig
I don't know if you are a watcher of YouTube but some of the full timers provide a lot of information on parking. Those Happy Days and Camper Vibe are a couple that might be worth a look. Something I have picked up from those videos is that the National Trust, whilst generally happy to have motorhomes as day visitors they are far from keen for overnight stays. The channels also often list places where you can stay overnight often with only a modest fee. I expect the Club would be conflicted if it provided information on such overnight parking as they are interested in selling their own pitches and those on CL's? There were a couple of questions at the 2021 AGM about providing motorhome only facilities and I didn't get the impression there were going to be changes any time soon.
David
0 -
What car park, Craig? Most sites have a very limited parking areas.
As it is the Caravan and Motorhome Club, it is my contention that any such spaces should be available to all members irrespective of their unit type and that simply isn’t practical.
DK has given you some tips and I think you’d be better looking to the likes of Britstop for this provision rather than one of the major clubs.
4 -
The National Trust is not interested in allowing overnight stays in their car parks. Their statement is attached.
For daytime motorhome parking it’s best to phone the property concerned and ask about motorhome access. Some of their properties are easy. Some are impossible.
0 -
NT overnight camping was allowed last year at Aira Force Car Park close to Ullswater. Not sure if this is allowed in 2022.
Review from last year taken from the NT Aira Force Car Park web page
Whoever at the National Trust came up with the idea of letting camper-vans stop in the car park overnight for £10 deserves a medal in the annual NT medal giving ceremony. Great idea and great in practice. About 10-12 other vans and motorhomes stayed overnight. All quite respectful of the rules and we had one of the quietest nights sleep we’ve had in the camper. The toilets are open overnight as well so this is a bonus. Top marks to the National Trust and I hope this is rolled out to other suitable sites. I also hope people don’t abuse the privilege.
1 -
The Club is stuck in a rut, it should never have changed its name to the Caravan and Motorhome Club. All it has ever done since is provide drive over grey waste disposal facilities, nothing else to help promote motorhome/campervan tourism. It won’t even open any sites to members to stop and service their outfits without paying an overnight fee. It is still hell bent on providing full facility sites for long staying owners of outfits, not no frills "quickstop" facilities for those requiring to move on a more frequent or daily basis.
Don’t waste your time tackling the Club to go any further to promote motorhome touring, Check out CAMpRA instead and give them all the support you can. The future lies with other organisations and local councils to provide the parking and overnight stopping places so desperately needed in this country to enable REAL motorhome/campervan touring to take place.
peedee
4 -
If I buy a bike even though there are no cycle lanes here. Someone should provide them for me.
If I buy an electric car even though there are hardly any charging points here. Someone should provide them for me.
If I buy a motorhome even though there are hardly any Aires. Someone should provide them for me.
I want.
5 -
The NT also has quite a few campsites of it's own in some good spots. However they also have many car parks that CAMC doesn't have.
All these organisations including CAMC are doing whatever they can to provide a variety of pitches and make things viable too.
The suggestions about looking up alternatives provides plenty of choice in the face of CAMC site limits on space and parking. There are lots of alternatives already.
0 -
Liam & Janine (Those Happy Days) remarked in their return to Ilfracombe and North Devon how limited overnighting is compared to last year. Their latest youtube feed mentions getting into trouble in Wales this last week for overnighting. Whilst we like their approach, sometimes their lack of common sense (Liam has a degree, but in wot isn't clear) and sense of entitlement grind a bit.
Louise, Emily, AJ & Summer (Camper Vibe) are currently in Sweden are far more balanced and respectful.
Who will get the soon to be launched air con unit from Eco Tree gratis for most plugs on their channels? Quite how £1 per Watt in a power bank is value is beyond me, when non trendy, latest tech UPS are far cheaper. Must be the Van Life premium as its for vanning.
There is considerable content online to find places than there was when we motorhomed a few short years ago.
The Van Life thing seems to be anti established ways. Quite why the self build, non off the shelf builds use heavy timber, tongue and groove, domestic cabinetry and appliances is beyond me. Wonder how they manage if pulled into a weigh station.
Another great channel is Tread the Globe, Chris and Marrianne, currently in Alaska circumnavigating the globe in an 18 year old Fiat Ducato based PVC. Despite the sign on their van, they didn't sell everything, they rent out their home in Surrey to fund the trip.
The Rolling Radfors, currently in Switzerland recently posted of a Rally in the New Forest for £10 a night, the Beaulie CAMC temporary site is about 4x that at the moment.
0 -
I think your two first examples might be a little disingenuous. 🤔😁
I want more safe cycle lanes so that I don’t get squashed, knocked off, run over, abused, etc… while I try to stay fit and healthy (less of an NHS burden) and help the Planet generally (despite having no children of my own)
Same with electric vehicles, trying to improve emissions locally, and contribute towards saving the Planet.
Touring outfit ownership is more niche, and debatable in terms of healthy lifestyle and saving the Planet, mainly the choice of those with a degree of disposable income. Employs a good few though……😁
5 -
+1
1 -
Head in the sand methinks!!! There are lots of benefits in terms of health to encourage people to cycle and to that end it is not unreasonable for the Government/Local Authority to encourage that by providing facilities for safe cycling and for the public to want them to do that. For some places it was designed into the built environment. The same is true of electric cars. If you want to discourage people from usings ICE cars and move to electric you have to provide incentives and in the case of EV's that is a charging infrastructure. I think all the OP is suggesting that the Club get a bit more involved in providing information about motorhome parking. Even if you leave aside the overnight issue it would be good to have info on day time parking. How many of the articles in the magazine on various areas of the country ever mention the possibility of being able to park a motorhome at any of the attractions? It depends on how you see the Club. Is it just a provider of campsites or a provider on information to its members, surely it should be both? The Club go out of their way to provide towing courses, they publish extensive guides to touring Europe so why not extend that to helping motorhomers with information on parking or use their influence to encourage the provision of at least day time parking for motorhomers.
David
4 -
Craig Powell - As previous posters say CAMC have said in the past there are no plans to provide the type of facility you are suggesting and Nat Trust do not appear at this moment in time to be allowing ‘paid for’ overnight parking after their trial as far as I am aware.
Personally, I can only guess that it is not financially viable for these organisations to provide overnight parking for a nominal fee and it would IMHO be even less cost effective for them to provide a bookable system as you are suggesting.
Neither do I feel it would be in the club’s best interest (financially) to get involved with attractions as you say “to provide more formal parking and potentially stopovers for caravans and motorhomes”. CAMC’s core business is to sell its own pitches and I’m not sure ‘lobbying’ attractions to provide specific formal daytime or overnight parking spaces for caravans/motorhomes would be the best use of their time.
MMM magazine used to provide a booklet listing car parks that provided daytime spaces for motorhomes not sure if they still do this. I think the info was provided by its readers so may not always have been up to date.
There are overnight providers out there but I am not sure any are bookable
Perhaps you may get current up to date info to your questions from CAMC and Nat Trust head offices.
1 -
Www.park4night.com is as good a reference source as any. Covers the whole world, not just the UK and mainland Europe. One of my go-to apps.
0 -
If I buy a bike even though there are no cycle lanes here. Someone should provide them for me.
We have a fantastic cycle path network where we live, paid for out of our council tax.
Most useful to cycle approx 7 miles to the train station, fold it, get on train to Londinium and onward cycle paths to the office when required.
20 mile round trip to the pub.
Pop to the supermarket.
Vey few cyclists use the network, instead like the local cycle club ride 4 abreast blocking the road carriageway that runs alongside the wide cycleway. I'm unsure if cyclists are making a point, being obstreperous, or just intellectually challenged
1 -
Whilst the CAMC struggles to be inclusive catering for touring outfits, seasonal pitches, CLs, Camping pods, non members etc why would they want to provide exclusive facilities? If CampRa raised some capital from its members and actually ran a handful of Aires to substantiate their claims surely the freeby ones they are after would follow.
0 -
Is CAMC 'really' inclusive. They operate very much on the 'any colour you like so long as it is black' principle. They aren't interested in any sort of basic 'no frills' provision. There's not generally even an option to go non EHU for a suitable reduction in price.
1 -
You definitely have a point. We have a number of excellent cycle tracks in the Southport area from around 7 miles from the centre of town one way to around 4 miles the other way, which I often use myself, but some cyclists simply won't use them but ride on the road instead. I used to be a volunteer at an animal sanctuary in Holmswood (not far from Rufford), on a Sunday morning and on my way home often found myself driving for quite a distance behind a gaggle of cyclists who were holding up the traffic on the narrow country roads. In my view, cyclists who do that should be fined.
0 -
We have many cycle paths in our area but many cyclists would rather use the road instead as they say they cannot make headway on the cycle paths they get quite argumentative when I suggest that they should be done for obstruction if on the road and cycle paths are available 🤔
0 -
If CampRa raised some capital from its members and actually ran a handful of Aires to substantiate their claims surely the freeby ones they are after would follow.
CAMpRA isn't about establishing free aires, the vast majority require payment and FYI they have already raised a substantial amount from members and are actively supporting installation costs at selected sites. Crowd funding has also received active support from motorhome owners and it has also enabled the establishment of facilities.
peedee
0 -
When it seems that most LV owners cannot live without an umbilical cord attached to the EHU bollard ?
- In the past when EHU if required was an extra charge many a warden would advise of the times an early or late walk round a site would find umbilical leads attached to The hook-up bollards when on arrival the said members would not be requiring the hookup🤔
0 -
That's very good news, real action that may result in servicing a need. Having looked at the CampRa website this wasn't clear if they were just a lobbying group. By establishing a few CampRa run Aires the financial benefits claimed can be proven which should cut the ice with councils and land owners. Who knows it may even turn in to The Motorhome Club.😉
0 -
CAMpRA don't actually run any Aires. They offer support to land owners to establish them and in a limited number of cases finance to help these become established. My main concern is the possiblity of sites being abused by a small minority. There are already a few reports of such cases and this will only lead to their closure and more anti feeling towards motorhome owners. We are not all FLT but there are evidently a few about who will spoil it for the majority.
peedee
0 -
One helpful aspect of the CaMC to motorhomers and camper vanners is the fact that they do not impose a minimum no of multiple nights booking at a site. Many commercial sites, including the CCC do, some often stipulate a minimum of 5, a few even a whole week. Keep up the good practice CaMC.
0
