Cattwg Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 I have just taken this off the Wild Camping website. “The Conservative Group on Scarborough Borough Council today call for support for a proposal put forward by former Councillor Sandra Turner to extend the season in Whitby by allowing motor homes to use the Abbey Headland car park during the winter months. There are toilet and water facilities on the site already and a nominal charge could be levied. There are at least 250,000 motor homes registered in the UK and they are an important part of the tourism industry with disposable income that could be usefully spent in Whitby. Leader of the Conservative Group on Scarborough Borough Council Cllr Derek Bastiman said: “We welcome good ideas ……….. We would hope that other similar initiatives could be explored ………. to extend the season …………. If our economy is to recover we need the skills of all local business and community leaders to be recognised and used by the current administration in the Town Hall.” “ I wonder what their definition of a nominal charge is? This is the link to the whole article in the local newspaper: http://nyenquirer.uk/whitby-abbey-aire-a-winter-lifeline/ Amidst the tragedy of Covid 19 maybe, just maybe there is some good news for some in the motor-homing community. Especially if other councils recognise that their parking areas may be a source of additional income and footfall. Cattwg :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevec176 Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Good on them, fingers crossed and if it comes off maybe others will follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Cattwg - 2020-06-21 10:48 AM I wonder what their definition of a nominal charge is? Cattwg :-D As an example, a few years ago after some two years of meetings, negotiations and pressurisation from Motorhomers who wrote and emailed following my appeal on here, The then labour led Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council agreed to open a car park in the centre of the ancient market town of Guisborough- not too far from Whitby - to overnighting Motorhomes. Although I had hopes that no charge would be made, it was eventually set at £5 from 6pm to 8am with normal parking charges applying outside of those hours. It was a hard fought win but, sadly, the conservative led opposition eventually got the council to drop the scheme just 12 months later citing lack of use by Motorhomes as the reason not to continue. I never found out if the lack of use was due to the charges, the lack of adequate road signage on the outskirts (pointing out there is an aire as in many French towns) or simply politics. But that is of no matter now as the facility has gone and along with it the chance to expand the scheme to other local towns and areas such as Saltburn, Redcar and yes, Whitby - although that is a different local authority area I'm sure it would have been possible to get some cross border cooperation to extend a chain of Aires. Like many Motorhomers I would welcome more overnight facilities outside of campsites and maybe this pandemic will make local authorities take a different view. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 david lloyd - 2020-06-22 9:20 AM Like many Motorhomers I would welcome more overnight facilities outside of campsites and maybe this pandemic will make local authorities take a different view. David Lets just hope Whitby is a success then and spreads to other areas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bop Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 witzend - 2020-06-22 10:17 AM david lloyd - 2020-06-22 9:20 AM Like many Motorhomers I would welcome more overnight facilities outside of campsites and maybe this pandemic will make local authorities take a different view. David Lets just hope Whitby is a success then and spreads to other areas It'll be like Scotland, i.e. where the free camping areas become so popular and then the rogue campers will come along and dump their crap and waste - the locals will then want/insist to close it down or have the council place severe restrictions on said site. The problem with popularity is that it brings issues too. This will be a good idea until the first dodgy motorhomers upset the appelcart for the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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