What Would a UK Club Type Aire Look Like

CamPra is a lobbying association, but there are thousands of visitors, UK based, and from overseas who make use of the type of provision they are campaigning for, who aren’t actively involved with CamPra, me for one, and friends and family.

Not all Aires, legal stopovers are part of the CamPra approved network, others, in the hundreds have been provided by private individuals, communities, businesses, etc…… and require no joining, so it’s difficult for anyone but the owners, local communities, etc..to know exactly what the visitor statistics are. It can be difficult to get an overnight pitch up at times, so any extra provision provided, is likely to be considered if it compares favourably with busy options. But I cannot prove this, only say that we arrived at a stopover for seven outfits, that had space for, and filled 17! That was early June, a Friday night in Dumfries, half of them Swiss! 

Some are quiet little places, some you have to book in, or arrive early otherwise it’s move on elsewhere. Most remain open all year round, and our experience is that they give a good Winter touring option, particularly when the Clubs shut up shop in a good few areas during the Winter months. Searchforsites is probably a better search resource for folks who tour mixing things up, as it lists most options, including Club Sites, CLs, CS, commercial, private, stopovers, and much more. You can stick to CamPra approved stops just by using this option. As someone who is out there, experiencing this type of touring, all I can say is that the MH stopover network is busy. Last one we used, back in April, weather foul, was full, no more room. Pickering town centre, no hook up, but water, waste &CPD provided. £12 for the night, and that included parking up until 4pm next day, so we enjoyed a leisurely wander around Pickering, then moved up to NYMoors Club Site. Which was a quarter full, for I think around £25 per night.

Is it me, or do we appear to be going around in circles? The OP asked a very reasonable question which seems to have been answered many times in one way or another. There is clearly a need for a different offering to that which the CAMC has, specifically for motorhomes/campers. What is unclear is the quality of the facility that needs to be offered and the price point for this. For some, the provision of a parking bay and the ability to shake hands with the unit next door may well be satisfactory, for others it maybe totally abhorrent. Some may feel that the ability to arrive on site until 10pm in the evening would be a reasonable driver to reduce a pitch price, especially having already had the benefit of most of the day maximising their enjoyment by visiting interesting places, stopping for a meal etc. Makes perfect sense until you consider those on site who wish to make the most of the site (and having paid for the privilege) are not keen on the clatter of diesel engines, the slamming of sliding doors, the overtures of cooling fans and the inevitable slip and slide of vehicles mounting ramps. Perhaps a little unfair, but you get my drift. The sole purpose of the CAMC is to cater for the vast majority, which at the moment, seem to be reasonably (not 100%) happy with the offer. Those who wish the CAMC to drive for every efficiency and every penny on the bottom line may live to regret it in the future. In summary, the OPs question has provided much food for thought, however, trying to fix a CAMC model which is not fundamentally broken to satisfy a demand in the UK which has so far left major organisations unconvinced of its viability, would appear to have little head wind. Regrettably, there will always be winners and losers in every 'club', arguably the CAMC seems to have made a reasonable stab at satisfying most members most of the time. Maybe there is a reason why few non-CAMC sites seem to offer what has been suggested?