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Public Parking Height Barriers


equitable

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No. In some areas it is necessary to instal height barriers to control parking. For it to be discriminatory it has to be unjust and targeted at motorhomers. On the first count, there will always be a rationale for the height barrier although we may not agree with it. On the second count, height barriers exclude more vehicles than motorhomes.

 

Irritating yes.

 

I think you have raised this before when you went to Bath!

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Hi,

 

Many years ago, we went to the En France (?) show at Olympia, using the adjoining multi-storey car par, which was accessed by a single track access road.

 

We were delayed by a LWB, hi-top Transit van trying to reverse against the traffic entering the ca-park.

 

I don't know if the driver had ignored a warning sign, or if there wasn't a warning sign, but I have met a similar situation in Swansea, when I was driving a Land Rover ... and there definitely was NOT a height warning sign.

 

602

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Keithl - 2018-09-28 3:37 PM

 

 

http://www.motorhomeparking.co.uk/

 

Keith.

 

Jeez, that must be the worst and most unreadable website ever. I managed half the first couple of lines then gave up. Could the author not use shorter paragraphs? Or sentences? Or even a sensible page size? Or a better font? There may be some useful info there but I'm not wasting my time trying to find it.

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ColinM50 - 2018-09-28 4:18 PM

 

Keithl - 2018-09-28 3:37 PM

 

 

http://www.motorhomeparking.co.uk/

 

Keith.

 

Jeez, that must be the worst and most unreadable website ever. I managed half the first couple of lines then gave up. Could the author not use shorter paragraphs? Or sentences? Or even a sensible page size? Or a better font? There may be some useful info there but I'm not wasting my time trying to find it.

 

My eyesight is not as keen as it once was but I have no trouble reading Graham's website and bearing in mind that he has devoted a lot of time, effort and cost into compiling and maintaining it you might show a little more thought and understanding before sounding off at him for providing free to all a website that has been of benefit to many.

And no, I have never met and do not know him but I have a great respect for all his work.

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Having revisited Graham's website (http://www.motorhomeparking.co.uk) one thing stood out, specifically the definition of parking.

 

It seems that if I eat a sandwich lunch while sitting in my MH, I would be breaking the law. Along with many others I would not think twice about doing that in a car, particularly during inclement weather. So if I am in my MH do I have to either go hungry or stand outside, in order to remain legal? Now that would be discriminatory, or are all those eating sandwiches while in a public car park breaking the law?

 

Alan

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ColinM50 - 2018-09-28 4:18 PM

 

Keithl - 2018-09-28 3:37 PM

 

 

http://www.motorhomeparking.co.uk/

 

Keith.

 

Jeez, that must be the worst and most unreadable website ever. I managed half the first couple of lines then gave up. Could the author not use shorter paragraphs? Or sentences? Or even a sensible page size? Or a better font? There may be some useful info there but I'm not wasting my time trying to find it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder :-D

Perhaps you would like to build an alternative to show us all how it should be done. I, for one, would be most interested.

Like most who criticise, though, I don't suppose you could be bothered to put in the effort to design an alternative, never mind do the research to obtain the information it relies on :-D

Have a nice day :-D

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Alanb - 2018-09-28 6:56 PM

 

Having revisited Graham's website (http://www.motorhomeparking.co.uk) one thing stood out, specifically the definition of parking.

 

It seems that if I eat a sandwich lunch while sitting in my MH, I would be breaking the law. Along with many others I would not think twice about doing that in a car, particularly during inclement weather. So if I am in my MH do I have to either go hungry or stand outside, in order to remain legal? Now that would be discriminatory, or are all those eating sandwiches while in a public car park breaking the law?

 

Alan

Strictly speaking you are right, eating does meet the definition of habitation. However, it would be extremely unlikely that any LA would prevent the eating of a sandwich lunch.

More than one council has responded along the lines of "We are perfectly happy for people to eat their fish & chips whilst enjoying the views but we don't want them camping overnight".

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Thanks to all who have responded to my post to date.

 

The reason behind my post was to get an idea as to whether the apparent increase in the number of car park barriers is making it difficult for motorhomes to visit certain cities and areas of outstanding beauty. Obviously, local authorities want to discourage ‘wild camping’ in car parks, and I am in agreement with them on that issue. However, the fact that sometimes one is forced to drive around for miles in order to find parking, and then face a reasonably long walk, means that motorhomers will effectively be ‘excluded’ from enjoying parts of our country, which in modern society may amount to discrimination.

 

Perhaps, instead of installing height barriers, local authorities would allow ‘limited time parking’ along with heavy fines for camping overnight in car parks, which would achieve the desired effect, whilst allowing ‘reasonable access’ to motorhomes. After all, we do spend money when we tour an area, which helps local economies.

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Randonneur - 2018-09-28 11:53 AM

 

No.

 

Disagree, height barriers DO discriminate against a particular section of the population......us.

The usual excuse is they are there to stop Travellers ? Gypsies from setting up camp. Answer change the law to move them on immediately enforce the fines by confiscating vehicles.

If we ignored fines the bailiffs would be around.

Not talking about overnight parking...thats a differant subject.

Just normal day parking, being charged normally, like other vehicle users.

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Speaking from the point of view of 12 years of multiple communications with all 400+ LAs in the country, as well as many other public and private sector organisations, the general reasons for height barriers are not to stop travellers nor to stop mis-named "wild" camping.

 

There are a few instances of the former but, in general, the sorts of "travellers" who think they have a right to camp where they like seem to pick on non-LA car parks, knowing that non-LA landlords have more, rather than less, problems than LAs in moving them on.

 

There are also a few instances of barriers designed to stop camping by motorhomers who think they have a right to ignore bye-laws or regulations banning camping but they are more likely in non-LA car parks.

 

More generally, though, height barriers are to stop large vehicles of all types (mainly commercial, in fact) which stop parking by the shoppers/commuters which the car parks are designed for and/or are too large/heavy for the design of the car park.

 

Over the past 12 years, more LAs have made provision for motorhome parking and more publicise the provision on their web sites. In the absence of that information there are contact details for the parking teams, from which advice can be sought. Even where off street parking is not available in a particular place, it is likely that on street parking and/or park & ride facilities are available.

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I don’t think it is discriminatory. Whilst it IS often, frustrating, in my opinion, the barriers in the vast majority of instances are installed for good reason and there is no intention of deliberately preventing access to motorhomers alone (that WOULD be discriminatory).

 

Whilst it’s often inconvenient, this is a lifestyle I chose and I make due allowances. Far more important things to worry about in my opinion.

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equitable - 2018-09-29 4:24 PM

 

I agree that height barriers DO discriminate against Motorhomers who only want to stop a short while i.e. NOT overnight.

equitable - 2018-09-29 4:27 PM

 

Alternative parking for motorhomes is RARELY provided in areas of interest and outstanding beauty. One often has to drive quite a distance to find parking without barriers in some places.

Have you some examples, please, of places you mean?

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equitable - 2018-09-28 10:41 AM

 

Do the members consider the practice of many local authorities installing height barriers to exclude motorhomes amounts to discrimination, especially in cities and areas of outstanding beauty?

 

I can understand why fellow MH users get annoyed by La’s that erect height barriers, but I can also understand why they do it. It limits the aggravation that can be caused by universal access to parking.

They have limited resources, and those resources are under constant threat of further reduction.

I don’t see the situations changing,

Regards, Snowie

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747 - 2018-09-28 5:26 PM

 

Many car parks also have a 1.5 Ton weight limit on vehicles, which means many big cars and 4 x 4's are parking illegally.

 

How does the car park attendant know the weight ? Does he/she guess ? Silly restriction just put ' no HGV's.

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Rayjsj - 2018-09-29 9:49 PM

 

747 - 2018-09-28 5:26 PM

 

Many car parks also have a 1.5 Ton weight limit on vehicles, which means many big cars and 4 x 4's are parking illegally.

 

How does the car park attendant know the weight ? Does he/she guess ? Silly restriction just put ' no HGV's.

They don't know necessarily.

The limit comes from the Road Traffic Regulation Act. It was updated in 1984 to 3050 Kg but some councils have had no other reason to change their parking orders so haven't wasted money doing so. They sometimes simply don't enforce the regulation strictly because the limit also reflects the fact that the car parks concerned are designed for cars, not larger vehicles, so is designed to stop use by commercial vehicles.

Where attendants are uncertain they tend to err on the side of caution. It is, of course, easier for them to tell that a van/motorhome is over the limit than it is for a car.

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