John J Thompson Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Is Motorhome Parking another PPI issue I have been contacting UK parking providers to update the information that was on Graham Hadfield's Motorhome Friendly and Unfriendly Parking website, which is closing next month. A lot of local authorities reply that there are plenty of caravan site nearby, that users of these vehicles can use. They do not see the need for even day time parking. One council replied that the car parks they provide are for local resident to use and that there is no parking for caravans anywhere in it area. I contact them again and despite my arguments they insist that motor caravans or caravans of any description are not welcome. They do not appreciate that the Motor Caravan is the transport, as well as accommodation, for visitors in these vehicles, unlike caravans that can park on a site and use the tow car to visit and shop in. It has been growing in my mind while pursuing this topic, that this is a bit like Banks, lenders etc. insisting that we take out insurance whether we need or want it , that blew up into the Payment Protection Insurance issue. A great number on this site, do not want to be forced to use caravan sites and as self contained units we don't need to use them for every stop. The oft quoted Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 amended 1986, was drawn up before modern Motor Caravans were even developed. It's description of a caravan, often used as the reason to use caravan sites, is no longer relevant as it could also be interpreted to cover sleeper cabs in trucks and crew accommodation on coaches. A Motor Caravan is no different to these vehicles. The EU and DVLA now use these classifications which became effective in 2002. The categories for vehicles with 4 or more wheels are: Passenger vehicles are category M. M1 Vehicles with up to 8 seats plus the driver M2 Vehicles with more than 8 seats plus the driver and with a MAM of up to 5000kg M3 Vehicle with more than 8 seats plus the driver with a MAM of greater than 5000kg A Motor Caravan is a vehicle in M1 with a special body. Whether it be a VW or Transit size van, up to an RV the size of a large touring coach. Goods vehicles are category N Trailers are Category O O1 up to 750kg MAM O2 up to 3500kg MAM. This covers trailer caravans as well as goods trailers It is time the UK authorities got up to date and recognised the difference between a trailer caravan and a motor caravan in their rules and TROs. Many say no caravans when they mean no trailers. Many just ban motor caravans because someone may sleep in them. Many will say No Motor Caravans, when the restriction is the weight of the vehicle not the type of vehicle. Heavy 4WD vehicles get away with parking but borderline motor caravans get PCNs. These issues are being discussed now in The Motor Caravan Tourism website. http://www.tmcto.org (parts of the site are still under development or change) This site is not a general discussion forum but specialises in issues related to Motor Caravan Parking and obtaining legal overnight "Camper Stops". It directs users to this site and others. It in no way in competition for membership, as use is free. Petitions have got us nowhere it is time for a different approach similar to that used by the Motorhome Association in Northern Ireland that have succeeded in getting 5 continental style Aires with Bournes, established over there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean.clarke Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 So what did the Motorhome Association in Northern Ireland do to get their Aires? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 The Motorhome Association's objective is to represent the interests of motorcaravanners throughout Ireland. There's an informative website here: http://www.themotorhomeassociation.org/189814476 I don't think the Motorhome Association has done anything unusual or revolutionary regarding the Irish 'aires', just met with the appropriate bodies and made a convincing case that providing such facilities would be worthwhile. The Motor Caravan Tourist Organisation seems to mirror the aims of the Motorhome Association, but supporters will need to be prepared to devote their time and effort if they want things to happen. The internet is fine for providing information, but websites and e-mail communication are not the same as face-to-face contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 John J Thompson - 2013-07-12 11:01 AM ... They do not appreciate that the Motor Caravan is the transport, as well as accommodation, for visitors in these vehicles... ...This site is not a general discussion forum but specialises in issues related to Motor Caravan Parking and obtaining legal overnight "Camper Stops"... Re point 1, possibly a bit of a disingenuous assertion, but paradoxically often true given the number of people that tow a little car around by whatever means on the back of their motorhome. Re point 2, we choose to use larger vehicles, nobody forces us; it should be no surprise that this limits choices when attempting to park. Is it an expectation that all local authorities should, by statute or benevolent understanding, provide formal parking for larger vehicles in every city, town and village? Also, of the hundreds of nights I've spent overnighting in GB off formal sites, I've yet to have a brush with any local authority / landowner / police service. It's not hard, what's the fuss about? And finally: Guisborough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 And as long as there are people in "our camp" such as yourself that apparently supports the ever growing menace of "no motorhomes" in the UK. we may as well all give up. You'll no doubt be delighted to hear our local community council have now put a prohibition of M/home parking on our local car park, but apparently they have no issue with ordinary vans, including LWB Sprinters,and Coaches, and looking out of my window today 4x4s complete with boat trailers, :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 crinklystarfish - 2013-07-13 9:55 AM Re point 2, we choose to use larger vehicles, nobody forces us; it should be no surprise that this limits choices when attempting to park. Is it an expectation that all local authorities should, by statute or benevolent understanding, provide formal parking for larger vehicles in every city, town and village? Whilst I agree it shouldn't be a rule that parking has to be provided, many authorities seem to go out of their way to make it difficult. Last year I parked up in a carpark in Ely which had about 8 bays that would take our van, on going to meter to pay found max length allowed was 5.3m, so I parked in street couple of hundred yards away perfectly legally, but it did interrupt the flow of traffic. Couple of years back a friend of mine went to Cambridge, she made the mistake of trying to park in the first 'park and ride' carpark she came to, not knowing that motorhomes are only allowed to park in one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John J Thompson Posted July 13, 2013 Author Share Posted July 13, 2013 crinklystarfish - 2013-07-13 9:55 AM John J Thompson - 2013-07-12 11:01 AM ... They do not appreciate that the Motor Caravan is the transport, as well as accommodation, for visitors in these vehicles... ...This site is not a general discussion forum but specialises in issues related to Motor Caravan Parking and obtaining legal overnight "Camper Stops"... Re point 1, possibly a bit of a disingenuous assertion, but paradoxically often true given the number of people that tow a little car around by whatever means on the back of their motorhome. Re point 2, we choose to use larger vehicles, nobody forces us; it should be no surprise that this limits choices when attempting to park. Is it an expectation that all local authorities should, by statute or benevolent understanding, provide formal parking for larger vehicles in every city, town and village? Also, of the hundreds of nights I've spent overnighting in GB off formal sites, I've yet to have a brush with any local authority / landowner / police service. It's not hard, what's the fuss about? And finally: Guisborough. Reply Point 1. Not every motor caravan tows a car. Every caravan user has a car available. Those that do use cars, can visit shops etc. without problems. Many borderline camper vans are being hounded and PCNs issued, just because they look like a motor caravan. Heavier 4WD vehicles on the same parking area are ignored http://www.tmcto.org/index.php/component/k2/item/17-horncastle-campervan-parking Point 2 Local Authorities do provide parking for large vehicles. They allow HGVs and Coaches to park but put regulations in place forbidding their use by Motor Caravans even if there is no demand by other the users. They would seen to do this because they think someone may sleep, eat or cook in one. They don't seem to care that HGV and Coach Drivers will also eat and sleep or that matter they may even prepare food in their vehicles. Wild Parking is not in dispute here, but many people unlike yourself are disinclined or frightened to give it a try. They like to know they are somewhere official. Yes Guisborough was a failure and there may be many more. Was it lack of publicity? or the location? Torridge Council have made provision http://www.tmcto.org/index.php/component/k2/item/5-torridge-new-motor-home-overnight-parking#comment1 Hawick Council have also been welcoming http://www.tmcto.org/index.php/component/k2/item/14-hawick-council-success#comment2 Fylde have issued a report on their success and are considering making permanent provision There are 5 Aires now in Northern Ireland. A few failures, although they may be a disappointment, is not the end of the world Keith is working tirelessly on getting the website going as a shop window, but there are others working away in the background as a group trying to deal with and promote other matters. After only 6 weeks we have made some progress. The PPI analogy I uses was the to highlight the issues. Parking on caravan sites is being forced on anything containing the word "caravan" by local authorities. This is whether or not, "we need to use a caravan site" or "want to use a caravan site". The banks etc. were forcing people to take out PPI insurance, even it they couldn't claim and therefor "did not want it" or "did not need it". There is nothing in the oft quoted Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act. that requires caravan (Motor Caravan) users to use a caravan site. The Act requires, that anyone providing a Caravan Site, must obtain a licence and PP to do so from the local authority. Exempted clubs have the authority to set up temporary sites (or permanent sites under paragraph 5) for use by their members. 5 day rallies are limited to members only under the Act. None members can use 28 day THS and 5 van sites, unless the club that exempts the site, has rules preventing this. Express PP is not required by an exempted club, as "presumed consent" applies under the Town and Country Planning Act. This could be extended to provision of Aire facilities if the powers that be so wished. Many in authority do not understand these subtleties. When I was dealing with a local authority on a paragraph 5 matter. I was told to go to my club about it. When I queried this I was told The Caravan Club. I had to inform him there were over 400 exempted clubs and many of them have the ability to issue paragraph 5 exemptions. We all don't belong to the Caravan Club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Like it or not, the resistance is often because we are, as a user group, largely undesirable. Don't shoot the messenger. Whilst our presence en-masse in an urban location may be to the benefit of a few local business owners, it is also arguably to the detriment of the majority of residents and other local users. We are known to bring visual blight, noise pollution, littering and dumping of waste issues, and we elicit a certain cultural resentment that is difficult to pin down. Local councils are understandably inclined to act within the interests of their local residents, the ones who pay them handsomely in council tax, and it's no surprise to me that so few are persuaded that encouraging motorhomes is a priority. Added to this, if we are being honest, as has been evident time and time again, most motorhome owners manage alright with current provisions and there is little real demand for dedicated parking and stopover provision. Fair enough, a few - and it is a few - people spend a good deal of time posturing and babbling on on internet forums but when it comes down to it very few indeed are moved enough to even be bothered to add signatures to petitions. It could be changed, but pressure from a few individuals directed at random local authorities is not the way it's going to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Strange that in France the exact opposite is true, on our most recent trip, we found more provision than ever, as for us being regarded as undesirables, I wish you or anyone would come and take a stroll around our local car park after the car visiting public have left, and left they have, McDonalds, Costa Coffee, and disposable bar-b-ques on occasion, together with all manner of other litter, including the odd disposable nappy, perhaps the next step will be to ban car owners from parking anywhere but their front drives. >:-( As for no demand, any day, any time at the cross channel ferries is self explanatory with the seemingly one way traffic in UK vehicles , my guess is the UK motorhome traffic to Europe, is the thing that keeps the operators in profit, most like me having completely given up on petty minded officialdom, and grid locked roads to nowhere. >:- ( As for petitions, if anyone can point to the last petition on anything being successful, I'd be the first to sign up, but in the meantime I'll watch the wonder of the flying pigs going past my windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 *SIGH* ..and so...around...and around...and around we go..... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 ???????????????, another satisfied customer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 crinklystarfish - 2013-07-13 4:41 PM Like it or not, the resistance is often because we are, as a user group, largely undesirable. Don't shoot the messenger. Whilst our presence en-masse in an urban location may be to the benefit of a few local business owners, it is also arguably to the detriment of the majority of residents and other local users. We are known to bring visual blight, noise pollution, littering and dumping of waste issues, and we elicit a certain cultural resentment that is difficult to pin down. Local councils are understandably inclined to act within the interests of their local residents, the ones who pay them handsomely in council tax, and it's no surprise to me that so few are persuaded that encouraging motorhomes is a priority. Added to this, if we are being honest, as has been evident time and time again, most motorhome owners manage alright with current provisions and there is little real demand for dedicated parking and stopover provision. Fair enough, a few - and it is a few - people spend a good deal of time posturing and babbling on on internet forums but when it comes down to it very few indeed are moved enough to even be bothered to add signatures to petitions. It could be changed, but pressure from a few individuals directed at random local authorities is not the way it's going to happen. are you SURE you are on the correct Forum ?? After 3 months touring the west country in the UK, staying mainly on CC sites (so NO searching for cheap or free pitching).We went with plenty of spending money, so we could mainly 'eat out' and give the misses a break. It was mainly a waste of time, we couldn't park in most resorts, plenty of space, BUT restrictive 'small print' rules concerning parking a larger vehicle, we don't want 'special places, or special treatment, JUST equal treatment and LESS RULES and Fines. The UK has a PROBLEM, many folk, with attitudes like yourself, are very unwelcoming to Tourists, both homegrown and Foreign. Until we get a better attitude we will see more seaside businesses go 'belly up' through lack of trade. Please wake Up ! Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Rayjsj - 2013-07-13 8:33 PM crinklystarfish - 2013-07-13 4:41 PM Like it or not, the resistance is often because we are, as a user group, largely undesirable. Don't shoot the messenger. Whilst our presence en-masse in an urban location may be to the benefit of a few local business owners, it is also arguably to the detriment of the majority of residents and other local users. We are known to bring visual blight, noise pollution, littering and dumping of waste issues, and we elicit a certain cultural resentment that is difficult to pin down. Local councils are understandably inclined to act within the interests of their local residents, the ones who pay them handsomely in council tax, and it's no surprise to me that so few are persuaded that encouraging motorhomes is a priority. Added to this, if we are being honest, as has been evident time and time again, most motorhome owners manage alright with current provisions and there is little real demand for dedicated parking and stopover provision. Fair enough, a few - and it is a few - people spend a good deal of time posturing and babbling on on internet forums but when it comes down to it very few indeed are moved enough to even be bothered to add signatures to petitions. It could be changed, but pressure from a few individuals directed at random local authorities is not the way it's going to happen. are you SURE you are on the correct Forum ?? After 3 months touring the west country in the UK, staying mainly on CC sites (so NO searching for cheap or free pitching).We went with plenty of spending money, so we could mainly 'eat out' and give the misses a break. It was mainly a waste of time, we couldn't park in most resorts, plenty of space, BUT restrictive 'small print' rules concerning parking a larger vehicle, we don't want 'special places, or special treatment, JUST equal treatment and LESS RULES and Fines. The UK has a PROBLEM, many folk, with attitudes like yourself, are very unwelcoming to Tourists, both homegrown and Foreign. Until we get a better attitude we will see more seaside businesses go 'belly up' through lack of trade. Please wake Up ! Ray I can only wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments, two years ago due to pressure from the missus we attempted Torquay, what a total farce, for Gods sake we drive a PVC conversion, not a Winnibago, we could find nowhere to park, and that was in June, not the height of the season. Why we are seen as a problem simply defeats me, but what defeats me more or some on here who seem to think there is no problem, and there was I thinking discrimination was a dirty word. F*** it I say, back over to France in September, and spend my cash there, where we are not perceived as carriers of the bubonic plague. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Come on Warners Group read this thread and break the British mould, look how the French magazines do it http://www.lemondeducampingcar.fr/aires-de-services/aires-de-services-accueil.html. Join the cause, persuade the constructors and retailers to add their weight behind obtaining a more relaxed overnight parking attitude by local authorities. The easier (and cheaper) it is to use a Motor Caravan with your magazines promoting the lifestyle the more potential readers you will have. Or don’t readers count as much as lucrative advertising contracts? Your support behind the cause may just be enough to sway opinion. Remember a Motor Caravan is NOT a caravan it's just a vehicle equipped for eating and sleeping. The only other option is to head South and spend our money in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan D Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Of course, the other side of the coin is - What must the Frenchies make of our system? Perhaps we could encourage them to give some of our money back by spending a bit of it over here. Sacre Bleu ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Rayjsj - 2013-07-13 8:33 PM crinklystarfish - 2013-07-13 4:41 PM Like it or not, the resistance is often because we are, as a user group, largely undesirable. Don't shoot the messenger....It could be changed, but pressure from a few individuals directed at random local authorities is not the way it's going to happen. ... The UK has a PROBLEM, many folk, with attitudes like yourself, are very unwelcoming to Tourists, both homegrown and Foreign. Until we get a better attitude we will see more seaside businesses go 'belly up' through lack of trade. Please wake Up ! Ray Open response, not just aimed at Ray. I reckon I am one of the few that has woken up. As I say, don't shoot the messenger. Sticking heads in sand and deluding ourselves that we are somehow the saviours of local business and somehow a desirable crowd to have amassed overnight in an urban car park is naive. Failure to grasp the impact our user group has on residents' enjoyment of their own environs is shallow. In terms of simple daytime parking provision, I can see many reasons why we are not attractive. Here are just a couple: The space we take up in an 8.5m tag axle (generally as a middle aged couple) could accommodate maybe two families of 4 or 5 visiting in a normal car, 2 x visitors or 8? which would you choose if you were generating cash? Spaces? Say a resort creates 10 for motorhomes, what happens to the 11th motorhome visitor? What happens when Mr 'I'm so important' parks his car in a 'motorhome' space and swans off to the beach? What happens when motorhomers park up there, get their chairs out, and prepare a picnic using food they bought 200 miles away (don't say it wouldn't happen). In no way am I unwelcoming to tourists, I am one; indeed most people I stay in contact with are themselves extended tourists, many of them from other countries. I am, though, guilty of being able to see this from more perspectives than simply that of a motorhome user and assessing things accurately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 With respect, what garbage, we drive a 5.6 panel van, hardly any bigger than many "cars" on the road, as a user group being mainly retired, we have more disposable cash to spend, and more time to do it. Consider the age group of NT members for example. You must live in a parallel universe if you think most cars are full to capacity, in any given place cars that are parked are a mixture of local residents, commuters mainly lone workers, and of course day visitors at tourist destinations. Your extreme example of a tag axle occupied by two people attempting to park you know full well is NOT the norm, given your attitude and views to this issue I can only say who needs enemies with friends like you in our "camp" One of your other comments " What happens when motorhomers park up there, get their chairs out, and prepare a picnic using food they bought 200 miles away (don't say it wouldn't happen ) have you never heard of cool boxes ( you can buy one in Halfords you know ) and picnics prepared at home by the car user, oh and because they lack cooking facilities or toilet facilities, the blight of the disposable bbq, many of which end up dumped on our local beach by the car user you seem to have such an affinity with, not to mention the odd crap behind a stone wall because they lack a toilet facility ,. >:-( come with me up to our local Creggenan lakes, inaccessible to motorhomes, and I'll show you first hand the "toilet" and litter left behind on a daily basis, you should take your blinkers off pal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 I completely agree that all forms of tourist can have negative impacts. And (I thought it would have required no explanation) my examples are not meant to be rigid or literal, but illustrative of the possible thinking of those charged with administering local communities. I'm not arguing against motorhome stopovers or parking and am surprised anyone would think so. Just telling it how it is. We need to understand how we are sometimes very justifiably viewed and just deluding ourselves that we are the bringers of all things good to communities is not helpful. Think like an elected councillor balancing the wider interests of your local community and the penny may drop that there is no particular incentive to get into the many and varied headaches that dedicated motorhome parking / stopovers may bring. I'm sorry if my grasp of current reality is in any way offensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 The whole point is simply this, living as I do in a tourist hotspot, and always longing for the end of the school holidays so they all go away again and leave us in peace there simply seems no justification for the general "witch hunt" against just one tiny section of the general public going quietly about their pastime, the bottom line is if the French can and do see the benefits of motorhome users, why the hell can't the UK do the same, given the choice of a hoard of city folks with their dogs, kids, and disposable bbqs, and picnic hampers descending on us by car, or a retired couple in their modest campervan coming to visit, I know which I would rather have come here ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 1footinthegrave - 2013-07-14 10:35 AM The whole point is simply this, living as I do in a tourist hotspot, and always longing for the end of the school holidays so they all go away again and leave us in peace there simply seems no justification for the general "witch hunt" against just one tiny section of the general public going quietly about their pastime, the bottom line is if the French can and do see the benefits of motorhome users, why the hell can't the UK do the same, given the choice of a hoard of city folks with their dogs, kids, and disposable bbqs, and picnic hampers descending on us by car, or a retired couple in their modest campervan coming to visit, I know which I would rather have come here ;-) Well put. Anyway who wants to go to the tourist hot spots? I know we don't. A quiet village, a canal side park a remote parking spot with two or three camper spaces that's the way the French do it. Why can't we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Rod_vw - 2013-07-14 10:59 AM 1footinthegrave - 2013-07-14 10:35 AM The whole point is simply this, living as I do in a tourist hotspot, and always longing for the end of the school holidays so they all go away again and leave us in peace there simply seems no justification for the general "witch hunt" against just one tiny section of the general public going quietly about their pastime, the bottom line is if the French can and do see the benefits of motorhome users, why the hell can't the UK do the same, given the choice of a hoard of city folks with their dogs, kids, and disposable bbqs, and picnic hampers descending on us by car, or a retired couple in their modest campervan coming to visit, I know which I would rather have come here ;-) Well put. Anyway who wants to go to the tourist hot spots? I know we don't. A quiet village, a canal side park a remote parking spot with two or three camper spaces that's the way the French do it. Why can't we? Pretty obvious really, the hot spots are that for a reason, they are the best places so attract most people. Go out of high season and most are ok, why settle for second best, which the places with no people will be. The French certainly do not do it that way, they will all pile into their vans in August and head for the med coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Rod_vw - 2013-07-14 10:59 AM ... A quiet village, a canal side park a remote parking spot with two or three camper spaces that's the way the French do it. From what I can gather, a good many mange to do just that (..and all without annoying or interfering with anyone... ;-) ) ..and with something Vdub sized, I would've thought it'd be pretty easy to find somewhere "legit" and considerate, to tuck yourself away... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John J Thompson Posted July 14, 2013 Author Share Posted July 14, 2013 Hawick The trial was instigated by the Hawick Welcome Initiative, a group of volunteers that ‘works to enhance the quality of the visitor experience in Hawick’. Motor Caravan parking is likely to be a popular feature of tourism in the town. It was not motor caravan users that got this provision, but the tourism group. who though of them and how to accommodate them as visitors, not just hoping they would go away. It is this type of thinking that needs to be nurtured and encouraged. Tourism is an angle that needs to be exploited. Thinking out of the box and not having closed minds. Petition have been shown not to work. I don't doubt there will be problems, but they can be overcome with thought. A willingness to help and not hinder is needed by some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 John J Thompson - 2013-07-14 11:10 AM Hawick The trial was instigated by the Hawick Welcome Initiative, a group of volunteers that ‘works to enhance the quality of the visitor experience in Hawick’. Motor Caravan parking is likely to be a popular feature of tourism in the town. It was not motor caravan users that got this provision, but the tourism group. who though of them and how to accommodate them as visitors, not just hoping they would go away. It is this type of thinking that needs to be nurtured and encouraged. Tourism is an angle that needs to be exploited. Thinking out of the box and not having closed minds. Petition have been shown not to work. I don't doubt there will be problems, but they can be overcome with thought. A willingness to help and not hinder is needed by some. Absolutely, and we can only applaud Kent for not only providing a full Aire in Canterbury, new dover road P&R, and following its success their are plans to extend it. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Parking / overnighting away from tourism 'hot-spots' is not, in my experience, difficult anywhere in the UK. Local Authorities will not individually be won over very readily. Indeed most, at the moment, are having to cut front-line services and couldn't care less that people in larger vehicles can't park exactly where they want to. Change will only be achieved by central government departmental work to: Shift culture by marketing the benefits of motorhome visitors. Stimulating true demand for 'aire' type facilities by encouraging foreign visitors (and domestic ones who are otherwise reluctant to leave the bosom of formal sites). Incentivising Local Authorities to provide the necessary facilities and if necessary using whatever the current equivalent of Planning Policy Guidelines is. Yadeyadah...add your own. Once again, Visit Britain have a legal duty to enhance / encourage tourism and I don't get why the energy expended on repetitively and pointlessly arguing the case on forums and creating poorly worded petitions etc isn't instead directed straight at them. It's their well-funded and well-resourced JOB to make stuff like motorhome stopovers happen. Has anyone ever asked them why they aren't doing it? Furthermore, I'm not persuaded that France is the mecca, there are many camping car interdit signs around and I get a sense sometimes that the camping car culture isn't so much embraced as reluctantly accepted given the French public have, en-masse, a propensity to simply refuse to comply with any rules and regs they find spoils their enjoyment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.