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[Munchie]

Again pinched from "elsewhere"

Taken from todays North Devon Journal

Support for plan to set up motorhome park for tourists

By kate helyer

A MOTORHOME park overlooking Ilfracombe harbour has been proposed to boost tourism in the town.

Ilfracombe Town Council is in talks with the landowner of the former tennis courts at Larkstone Gardens, over the proposals which they hope will bring more visitors into the town and aid the tourist economy.

Town councillor Rod Donovan said: "Through our town strategy deliberations, we realised that there has been a great expansion in the ownership of motorhomes.

"But compared to towns in France, where they have parks to accommodate these vehicles close to the town centres, we have nothing to cater for them in Ilfracombe."

He said the park would provide visitors with a scenic place to stay, just a short walk away from the town's harbour, shops, pubs and restaurants.

He said that with the right landscaping it would be virtually invisible to residents in the surrounding area.

He explained: "The idea is to provide a park for motorhome owners to stop overnight, or for a couple of nights, where they can hook up to electricity and water and spend some time in Ilfracombe before continuing with their touring holiday."

The plan fits squarely with the tourism element of Ilfracombe's ten-year strategy, which aims to attract more affluent, high-spending visitors to the resort.

Mr Donovan said the council was in discussions with the landowner and planners over the proposal and hoped to be able to accommodate around 20 motorhomes if the plan went ahead.

John Brown who runs the Avoncourt Hotel and is chairman of the Ilfracombe and District Tourism Association said: "This is an absolutely brilliant idea and would be another string to our tourism bow in attracting people to come here. We already have campsites further out, but the last thing people want to do is park up four or five miles out and then have to drive or bus into town.

"But to have something very near or within the town itself, gives them a lot more options and will be great for the pubs, clubs and restaurants." :thumb:

 

[wivvy's dad]

:thumb:

 

[scotjimland]

:thumb::thumb:

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[Loujess]

Brilliant! I was only saying today, I could fancy trying Ilfracombe.

Ivy

 

[Wildman]

Brilliant! I was only saying today, I could fancy trying Ilfracombe.

Ivy

We have two rallies in Ilfracombe this year June and August, so no excuse.
Ivy, hee hee

 

[joncris]

Perhaps the Club could send a letter of support to the council?

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[Wildman]

I don't get the North Devon Journal so this is the first I have heard of it. It would explain why the planning dept are so against my proposal for a CL yet at the same time provides the ammunition to overcome their objections.

 

[Bailey58]

Perhaps the Club could send a letter of support to the council?

I've dashed something off, funny address but my mail hasn't come back yet. :thumb:

rod.donovan@leisureshopdirect.com



Dear Mr Donovan,

I have read on my favourite motorhome forum, www.motorhomefun.co.uk, of the proposal to provide a continental type "aire", or stopover, for motorhome tourists. This enterprising move is to be commended and I'm sure will be well supported by many in the motorhome community.

For too long the UK has been very unwelcome towards this type of activity and, whilst many campsites both large and small in this country provide excellent facilities, they do not solve the problem of motorhomes accessing towns and cities and finding suitable parking upon arrival, more often than not being faced with height barriers which send us elsewhere. Many members of Motorhome Fun are in fact attending the Victorian Week in June but, as with many of these rallies, some are dependent on adequate transport from the site to get to the town.

Given the excellent facilities in Europe, particularly France and Germany where almost every small town provides stopovers within walking distance of the centre, it is no wonder that many of us vote with our feet/wheels and take ourselves and our money off to where we are welcome. Fylde Council at Lytham St Annes also has such a proposal in the pipeline and I for one hope this will be the start of many more.

Devon, Somerset and Cornwall is my favourite part of the UK and if your initiative is successful it will hopefully persuade other authorities to follow suit and lead to many more of us spending our holidays and our cash in the UK.

Once again many thanks and I wish you every success.

Kind Regards,

 

[joncris]

I've dashed something off, funny address but my mail hasn't come back yet. :thumb:

rod.donovan@leisureshopdirect.com



Dear Mr Donovan,

I have read on my favourite motorhome forum, www.motorhomefun.co.uk, of the proposal to provide a continental type "aire", or stopover, for motorhome tourists. This enterprising move is to be commended and I'm sure will be well supported by many in the motorhome community.

For too long the UK has been very unwelcome towards this type of activity and, whilst many campsites both large and small in this country provide excellent facilities, they do not solve the problem of motorhomes accessing towns and cities and finding suitable parking upon arrival, more often than not being faced with height barriers which send us elsewhere. Many members of Motorhome Fun are in fact attending the Victorian Week in June but, as with many of these rallies, some are dependent on adequate transport from the site to get to the town.

Given the excellent facilities in Europe, particularly France and Germany where almost every small town provides stopovers within walking distance of the centre, it is no wonder that many of us vote with our feet/wheels and take ourselves and our money off to where we are welcome. Fylde Council at Lytham St Annes also has such a proposal in the pipeline and I for one hope this will be the start of many more.

Devon, Somerset and Cornwall is my favourite part of the UK and if your initiative is successful it will hopefully persuade other authorities to follow suit and lead to many more of us spending our holidays and our cash in the UK.

Once again many thanks and I wish you every success.

Kind Regards,

Great letter May I suggest that one of the founders signs such a letter as Motorhomefun & sends it in behalf of the club

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[Bailey58]

Just had a brief reply from Rod Donovan, it may help if we all send a message of support as we did for Fylde.

From:rod.donovan@leisureshopdirect.com Date:18/03/2011 21:02

Hi,

Thankyou for your support. I need all the ammunition I can get to
persuade the local planning authority.

Rod Donovan

 

[JayDee]

I too have sent Councillor Donovan and e-mail.

Copied here:

Dear Councillor,
I read with great interest the article in the North Devon Journal by Kate Helyer entitled 'Support for plan to set up motorhome park for tourists'.

As an avid motorhoming tourist I have for a long time admired the French, German, and, indeed, Italian set ups of Aires, Stellplatz and Sostas. As you mentioned in the article, they provide dedicated motorhome parking, often with water, power and waste disposal facilities for a small charge, close to, and frequently in the middle of even very small towns. They are specifically for motorhomes; other recreational vehicles such as caravans and fifth wheels are not permitted to use them. There is no booking system; you arrive and if there is space you stay. If you wish to use the facilities you pay the charge for the services, but if you don't need the services then there is no charge. Motorhome owners recognise that, in Europe, they are welcomed by the local communities as they provide extra income to the retailers, food outlets and such but recognise that any abuse of the system, such as the leaving of litter, causing damage or nuisance, will threaten this mutually beneficial situation. As a result one rarely sees any sign of such bad behaviour.

Although there are many motorhome owners who do not venture abroad very much, there are very many who prefer to spend their time in France and Germany simply for the atmosphere of welcome that they perceive; an atmosphere which is sadly lacking in many parts of the UK. There are practically no facilities such as those being proposed for Ilfracombe, which leaves the camper having to use camp sites quite a long way out of town and dependant on public transport to get into town. If public transport is limited or non-existant they are forced to take their (sometimes quite large) vehicles into town, where they are often met with a barrage of height restrictions or, almost as frustrating, car parks that do not have spaces large enough for such vehicles and fines imposed if the campervan overhangs the space. It seems that Ilfracombe will not be one of these places and for that I applaud the efforts to bring about the 'Ilfracombe Aire'.

Well done. I wish you every success.


John Anderson

Motorhome owner.
Devon resident.
Member of Motorhome Fun, a forum of motorhome enthusiasts;
www.motorhomefun.co.uk

He said he needed all the support he could get, so let's give him some, eh?


John

 

[joncris]

I too have sent him a supporting email:thumb:

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[GJH]

It might help if people living locally offered to meet councillors & officers of the council to explain what an aire is all about and to show how self-contained motorhomes are compared to caravans.

 

[Bailey58]

Seeing the the emails in my inbox on the proposed Fylde Aire I thought I'd see how they were getting on in Ilfracombe:

Hello again Mr Donovan,

Following our emails some six months ago I wonder if there is any further news on your proposals for a continental type aire for motorhomes in Ilfracombe. Fylde Council seems to have researched this to great length and are in the process of referring this matter to their Policy Review Committee after some twelve months of discussion so they appear to be taking this suggestion seriously.

I would be interested in hearing of any progress in your part of the world, in these straightened times any means of keeping holidaymakers in the UK are worth considering and we do spend money locally!

Link Removed.



Hi,
​

We are optimistic about moving this forward. We have a meeting today with Planning Officers and Councillors.

Rod Donovan