Cornwall Council relents
Having set their face for many years against allowing motorhomers to stay overnight on council owned car parks the wind of change has finally reached County Hall in Truro. From next month it will be allowed at one single car park in Bude as a trial. But the fee will be £20 per night over the six summer months and £15 in winter.
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Seems to be in this part of the car park as linked by TW. £20 a night a bit steep? But then it seems near a lot of things. It seems to be next to the Tourist Office, I wonder if there were toilets there but no indication from the outside. Its good the Council are recognising the need and if it works they may allow it in more car parks.
David
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Mmm, somehow I can’t see this being a roaring success.
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There are public loo's on the other side of the tourist info office but probably locked over night. A lot of work going on in and around the car park at the moment.
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No, it’s not an attractively priced one night stop over option.
We were very impressed by what D&G were trying to do a couple of years ago, we were part of a visitors survey asking what folks attracted to the area were looking for, there was a very positive slant on trying to find more stopover car parks, and often not big car parks, more small areas hidden away, and putting the emphasis on low cost options. Aimed mainly at campervans and smaller MH’s, but the Forestry Parks easily accommodated larger MH’s at less than half the cost of this Bude price, and some would take caravan stopovers as well. Loos and showers inside visitor centres during opening hours, so really good value, and of course cafes and shops as well at some locations.
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I get the feeling that the Council is doing this half heartedly because they feel they should rather than with the will to make it work.
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Come on guys. It’s a great location - close to the beach and a short stroll into one of the nicest seaside towns in the area. Shops, cafes, bars, a- plenty. A perfect spot for motorhomers.
If they set it up properly and get their publicity right it could well be a great success. Lots of holiday makers would rather be there at Bude than at the no frills Club site in a remote, high, windswept field at Plymouth - miles out of town - which is £23.50 for two people in summer. Assume the extra £3.50 there covers EHU and the prices there are the same as the £20 at Bude.
Bude wins that comparison.
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Hmm, Plymouth Sound wins on views and security, Euro, but the two sites/locations are so dissimilar lthey're not really comparable.
Can you honestly see folk using that Bude car park when they might find a free pull in somewhere? Alternatively, I can’t imagine people who want one of the nearby 'proper' full facility sites being happy to use it.
I honestly don’t think our Council has thought this through or carried out sufficient research.
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I don't know the area so it is difficult to judge the value. £20p.n might be ok if the place is worth visiting and it also depends on what alternatives are available in the area. I would not rubbish it out of hand without knowing more about what is on offer.
Last time I was there, Burton on the Water charges £4.50 for 2 hours in the day and £15 for the night between 6p.m. and 9a.m. So if you arrived at 4p.m. you would pay £19.50 but look what you get for your money!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DqGiuBHx88
peedee
P.S. in the summer peak season you can park all day for £5 at the the school and Leisure Centre and move to the car park at 6p.m. Total £20.
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I agree TW. We have done some “not on a site” touring in the UK, so have a bit of real experience of “in this country, legal stopovers”, and so have something to compare CC’s offering with. We never paid more than £10 for any we used. That £10 got us great views, a hook up, water, cpd, hardstanding, properly managed spacing, a five minute stroll into lovely Kircudbright, and a nice swimming pool that we could use for a couple more pounds. 200 metres away, it was free to park up, you simply paid £3 to empty and fill up, so an even cheaper option. It was run by the community pool, and was simply a superb stopover.
£5 got us another Aire, this time with water, rubbish bins, CPD, picnic bench on individual pitch, cycle/walking path adjacent. Or free overnight in some of the 7Stanes Forestry locations, acres of space, cafe, loos, showers, shop during opening times, and bike riding/walking through the forest tracks.
Helmsley used to have a decent Aire. No facilities except loos when open, and rubbish bins, you simply paid overnight cheap park up fee, around £5 I think. But the locals got fed up of bad behaviour from “the small minority”, and it’s now gone.
UK doesn’t have a good touring mindset, particularly England. Locals don’t want it, Councils rarely understand it, or speculate they can make big money, and then you get too many users, (UK residents and overseas visitors) who abuse what’s on offer and spoil things for everyone. Hence the height barriers, the “ no overnight parking”. I would say towns and cities have vandalism and crime problems possibly as well. We never look at stopping in cities and big towns, a simple look around at the graffiti, the litter, the damaged cars, some of the local residents, puts us off. Give me a spot up on the moorlands, remote with only wildlife for company, a whole lot safer.
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You are right PD, it was free overnight. But more likely COVID and the wrong kind of people involved in touring proved too much for locals. It did operate fine for a while.
We saw a bit of the wrong kind of folks during covid period, too many parking too close, little thought for other users and locals. We stayed in one spot, no issues going out on tour, first night. Decided to return to same little Aire for our last night two weeks later, we got a pitch, only to find lots of overseas tourers, and hired tourers piling into a spot limited to seven units. That night had 17 on😡 We parked our outfit sideways on to block off pitch, but others had outfits park up on same pitch so close they could barely open doors. Another parked on footpath, and got very nasty when I suggested they move it a little bit so walkers could get past. That was a hire outfit, they hadn’t a clue how to behave. Spoils it for everyone.
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Northumberland Council have a number of areas marked off in their coastal car parks which you can use for £12 a night with a permit and limit to 24 hours e.g. Bamburgh, Beadnell Bay. They use the money to police the car parks and of course have your reg number and details when you obtain the permit so could easily take you to task if you abused the area. That is the way to go in my view.
peedee
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