We need more basic facility sites
Comments
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That is no reason not to post a view point even if on occasions you need a thick skin or have to bite your lip. At least Steve posts on here and is willing to complete surveys, many won't even do that. I think I have read somewhere only 12 pecent of members bother to complete suirveys and a similar amount are active members of Club Centres. Much of the feedback to the Executive comes from the Centres and Regions. Surveys are a recent introduction, perhaps in an effort to get wider feedback.
peedee
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I can only agree with your post BB ,our situation is not a wealthy one Property rich? cash poor? and with OHs condition if we can keep using sites into next year ,it must have a dedicated disabled facility, no LV in our price range has facilities large enough , for us to do as those who do tour in cheaper sites and other venues
so it is a case of in the future do what we can and hope the cost of living starts to come down to a more manageable level
And we are not alone some friends of ours (retired site staff) and two couples on this site now have said the same next year is going to be it seems many in our position can carry on using our LVs
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Is there no spirit of adventure any more, especially among the young? Or is it that CT is largely populated by us old fogeys and the young are off having fun and haven’t time to contribute.
I remember, in the good old days, using CLs with our caravan. As I remember many had electricity, but all were grass. Our van didn’t have a shower, did have a loo and washbasin, so we must have just washed. Our son probably didn’t miss baths and showers! But he did have plenty of room to run around. And we did have fun.
I get it that as people get older they want more comfort and I do see serviced pitches as advantageous to many. Many CLs provide water to each pitch by running overland pipes which can be turned off in winter. I am sure the Club could do more in this respect.
I get it that some families want holiday park type facilities, but many don’t.
our last caravan (2 berth, single axle) had a splendid end washroom. Even on the odd occasion we stayed at facility sites we would use our own. So much more convenient. And without a serviced pitch.
When we moved to motorhomes one of our “must haves” was a useable shower. Which we have, even in our PVC. Yes I miss the caravan washroom, but still never use site showers.
We only rarely use club sites, don’t consider them VFM. I Like the non facility sites like Thetford. I don’t think the club is really interested in what I want from it. “Just use CLs” is a cop out. If they intend to run down all their no facility sites they should say so, and we would all know where we stand. If not, why not market them more effectively, and not just on price.
Seems to me it is a self fulfilling prophesy, market high end sites to those that want high end sites, ignore the rest, and surprise surprise high end sites are fuller and no facility sites are seen as failing.
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I am glad to see that some others agree with me that if a site is underused and/or not viable then they should close. To do otherwise is just to drive up prices even more for other sites in my view. As EuroT said the club will see what really sells and what doesn't, SP especially.
It appears that people want to stay on club sites, or run under the club banner yet don't want to pay club prices, yes I feel the same way about products but sadly that is not how life works, don't want to afford, then don't buy. Find something cheaper at the same quailty which of course is what it may be all about?
And perhaps why is under the club banner so important? Some form of quality mark, an assurance? Well that comes with a cost.
But again so many times we're told that there are plenty of other sites out there of better or comparable quality, cheaper too, yet everyone wants to use a club site?
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I understand fully what the Club are doing.
If you don’t provide something, let’s say non hook up pitches, or on a larger scale, non facility Sites, then you don’t give people a choice. The statistics will say, no one uses them (pure statistics, not those that qualifying the true picture, they aren’t there to use😡) so the Club could say that usage doesn’t warrant further development of such pitches/sites. (Marazion was heaving last year, we couldn’t extend our stay, so the market is there)
Neglect, underfund, close, that’s the cycle for these lovely little affordable gems. As ex hard working staff have evidenced for us, and not just High Onn, JK has revived his Site by the sound of it.
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Isn't debate the very basis of a discussion forum?
It would be a very bland place if no one replied to someone's point.
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I Agree with you as to what seems to be the clubs latest mode of operation
JKs site in the southwest is more a sign of how many more LVs are around in the last few years and in a popular area at a reasonable price as you mentioned with Marazion rather than the all facilities prices of other sites
I understand that Bourton on the water (Notgrove)has also seen an increase in usage
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Isn't the greatest and best survey the one where pitches are actually bought and sites used? The club offers a range of differing sites and locations and it can easily see what sells and what doesn't?
Like I said a far more accurate picture of what its members really want. Or is that too simple an approach? because it doesn't agree with what I want?
You've said yourself that sites have pretty good occupancy and was Melrose showing many or any empty pitches when you were there? It's always full or very close when I go? If the club is somehow getting it wrong then this wouldn't be the case on this site and others?
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The real problem is that for some a debate is where you agree with me, an argument is when you don't?
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I'm afraid that, like TG, you have completely missed my point.
Your comment "but I'm sure that wasn't the ethos the club was built on all those years ago" I'm not sure is correct. From what I've heard and remember, the club was a very elitist organisation aimed very much at the better off who could afford it. Thankfully, it has moved on considerably since those times and, like you, I wish those not finding present times easy, the very best.
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Your looking at it from the point of view of a MH owner. Devizes site is 4/ 5 miles from Devizes and you can walk / cycle to it along the canal and walk / bus back. Great for us now we have a MH and we are booked in there next year. However, when we caravanned it wouldn’t have been as important, especially if intending to use the tow car.
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You think so ?that is not how when we rallied it was for us but it is it seems becoming so with the way prices of sites are going and it will be even more so in the next few years it seems
Even now talking to those here the next year for quite a few will be the crunch if they can stay members , even today there are 15 pitches empty in this area alone , on the West Side of FM
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The Club does need more non facility sites but not out in the sticks! Sites like Steamer Quay are reported as doing well so the fact it has no facilities block is not a deterent to occupancy, it is the location that attracts. Sites like High Ong, isolated in the middle of nowhere are never going to be so attractive and if they are underused so as to be a burden on the Club, they should be closed.
peedee
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I think Steamer Quay has a fac block. It has no EHU.
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Tinny is spot on with how the Club used to be. Very elitist, and I think at some point back in time, anyone looking to become a Member had to be referenced or sponsored by an existing Member?
I still grit my teeth at the very first conversation I had with a Club Warden back in the early 1980’s. To be told “we don’t take your sort on here” as a welcome wasn’t what we expected. Thankfully, it’s moved on hugely in terms of attitude and how it treats customers.
But we are under no illusions, this is becoming a Membership scheme for those with a certain disposable income, who never balk at paying what prices the Club determines is a fair price for its Club Sites. Indifferent to the loss of anything where you don’t simply roll onto a pan flat bit of gravel, and plug into a tap and an EHU.
Never mind, there’s still the CLs, as I was told at the AGM.
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I think what ET means that by looking at occupancy rates it can tell what type of site and location is popular with members. They are expressing their views by actually paying money, voting with their wheels. Surely that is the best way?
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That’s possibly the view of someone who parks up a big vehicle and then wants public transport? Some of us actually use our outfits daily, or enjoy the fabulous walks and cycle rides such a location provides?
Just because it doesn’t meet a personal need shouldn’t be grounds for dismissing something someone else enjoys. I am happy to consider all the different kinds of locations the Club provides, rural, city, large, small.
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Occupancy statistics are just basic data though Corners🙂 You need to have background information to fully comprehend what is going on, and what might be influencing those statistics. Folks will only spend money on what’s available. If you don’t provide something (no Eco pitches on 13 Yorkshire Club Sites) you cannot infer that the need isn’t there. It’s not provided, so no one has a choice🤷♀️
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We have been members since 1969 and have never had the sort of remarks that you had
in the early days after the second world war many department heads , area managers and site wardens were from the military , and at one point the club was part owned by a caravan magazine
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That doesn't hold up in my view TTDA.
I'm sure there are those more basic Eco sites you talk of nearby every club site in Yorkshire?
Surely there are a multitude of CLs and/or other providers. I've just done a quick search of CLs in north Yorkshire alone and it's 15 pages long! They could spend their money there rather than simply choose a club site. The club will think we're filling up our Yorkshire site quite nicely, if people wanted something different they would go elsewhere wouldn't they? Why would they keep coming back and keep re-joining if it's not what they want?
Yet with all that choice people are still using club sites. I've said it before no one is forced to use a club site and there is most definitely plenty of choice, the club offers one thing but one doesn't have to choose it if it's not what you want.
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I’m weary of those who keep saying it’ a choice of Club site or CL. It isn’t. The private sector is making lots of affordable provision. Usually farm based and family run. There are lots.
I offer Ashe Farm near Taunton as an example - family owned with 30 pitches on 6 acres. Well maintained and attractive - and within a few miles of the M5 so not at all remote..
Their price list has many options and is infinitely varied - it starts at £8 a night for single occupancy without electricity.. Even as cheap as that some will still carp - “but they charge a pound extra for a dog ….but it’s all grass,…but there’s a toilet block and I don’t want one” ,
And the owners openly say you can turn up without booking.. The choice of sites is actually better than it ever was.
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..and this is the major gap in 'the clubs extensive offering'...the opportunity to be on the same area as others, using the same facilities but not paying for one of the most expensive elements of the price...the electricity.
having one (or two) non EHU pitches (often closed) but a nice price banner on the website showing they're on offer, doesn't really cut it.
JK suggests that non EHU pitches wouldn't get used and, presumably, all CAMC member want more and more facilities like service pitches...
that might be (have been) the way things were going but the last six months will have a been a hard slap in the touring budget for a great many....pensioners especially.
as touring numbers fail away, with Mr Average not able to pay £40 or more per night, sites (not just CAMC) will need to realign their product to customers' expectation and ability to pay.
with electricity costs being such an unprecedented driver, non facs and non EHU sites/pitches may well be the way to go...it's just so easy to remove a fuse from a bollard...
this gives a fair offering to all customers, otherwise it certainly will become the preserve of the Discovery & Buccaneer set😉
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I remember the warden sergeant major types very well☹️. That's why we joined C&CC instead 50 years ago.
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In your last paragraph
"Yet with all that choice people are still using club sites. I've said it before no one is forced to use a club site and there is most definitely plenty of choice, the club offers one thing but one doesn't have to choose it if it's not what you want."
Haven't you just given the OP the answer to his question. (in your opinion)
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Peedee
They do mention in the September magazine they had 76000 responses from site surveys which seems quite an impressive number. What we don't know is how many survey requests actually sent out and not responded to?
David
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Thanks Corners😁 You have just told me to do what DG did at AGM😁 Yes, there are lots of CLs and eco pitches elsewhere in Yorkshire. We know because we use them. We have taken to Britstops and the like as well. We are going elsewhere almost every tour out nowadays.
It would just be better to have the choice on a Club Site. Choice of hook up or not, choice of facilities or not. At a more appropriate price.😁
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