Motorhome owners have their say on night parking (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

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Published on Saturday 27 August 2011 10:47

THE OWNERS of motorhomes have answered back to criticism at their parking on the West Cliff overnight and during the summer season.

Earlier this month the Gazette exclusively revealed byelaw notices on sign posts saying no sleeping in vehicles between 11pm and 6am were not enforceable due to legal technicalities.

The presence of the vehicles in the town has often been the source of conflict with day trippers and permanent residents saying the huge vehicles take up too much parking space, b&b owners saying they are being deprived of income and touring caravans saying they have to pay to use campsites.

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MicknPat

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The problem is if the Council provided a location would it be used by motor home owners or gypsies?

People say one thing and do the opposite, how many times have you seen people demanding a rally or forum flag..........yes initially 100's say "yes" until £££££ is mentioned then the 100's turn into a trickle and either the rally organiser or forum owner is left with a big bill :Sad:

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johnp10

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From the link in Grahams post:

He added: “It is a problem all over the east coast and it is something we are looking at to see what we can do and how do we address it".

Problem?
Surely trade coming into the area is a benefit that should be developed, rather than a problem "to be addressed", for which we should probably read "ban" or "charge".
"Addressing" this particular "problem" could easily "address" the trade these MHs bring out of the town completely.

This is a bit like a few other places who either dont want MHs or want them but with the maximum revenue squeezed out of them.
The answer is simple...Sod em! Go somewhere else.
Suffering business has a way of easing restrictions.

Heads and arses comes to mind.
 

GJH

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From the link in Grahams post:

He added: “It is a problem all over the east coast and it is something we are looking at to see what we can do and how do we address it".

Problem?
Surely trade coming into the area is a benefit that should be developed, rather than a problem "to be addressed", for which we should probably read "ban" or "charge".
"Addressing" this particular "problem" could easily "address" the trade these MHs bring out of the town completely.

Heads and arses comes to mind.

The main reasons that it is a problem are that, as in many (or even most) towns in this country:
1) Car parks were designed decades ago when motorhome usage was much, much lower and the vehicles themselves were smaller. As a result, car parks do not cater for large vehicles.
2) Streets were not designed to take large vehicles - or any motorised vehicles in some cases.

To those we can add:
3) The negativity which comes from the receipt of complaints by residents, whether justified or not, about the parking of motorhomes.
4) The unwillingness of the vast majority of motorhome owners to enter into positive discussions with councils about the advantages that could accrue to their areas by making provision for motorhome parking.

There isn't a lot we can do about the first two in many cases but if complaints are not matched/surpassed by favourable evidence then we can hardly be surprised when councils respond in favour of the complainants.
 

johnp10

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Accept all of that, Graham, but when a council "addresses" an issue they usually take the easiest course of action, which is to prohibit or charge prohibitive rates.
The outcome will be prohibition or silly parking rates.

There are places which prohibit overnight parking in empty car parks, the aim being to make folk pay to use camp sites.
These actions dont do the locations any favours, as folk stay away in droves.

Right or wrong, this gives the impression that they just want our money, but not our company.
Tourists to some are just £ machines.

If that's the case, again....sod 'em, go elsewhere.

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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I'm not pointing a finger at any member of this forum.. but , and we all know it, there are many who see it as their 'right' to park up and sleep overnight where ever they can find a FREE parking place..

If there were 'pay to use' 'aires' in the UK , the same ones would probably still not use. I've seen it in France.. ... they use the free water and dumping then drive off down the road to park up for free.. or, stay the night, not pay and escape before the police come around to check the tickets.. then arrive back later the same day to repeat this performance .. day on day ..

The economic advantages to a town are debatable.. most stock up before arriving, some will buy a few odds and ends but by and large the majority do all their shopping at an out of town retail park.. which is only natural.. it's what we all do before going to a site as we know the site shop will be more expensive.
 

Terry

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So Jim what do the out of town retail parks do ? do they not pay towards the towns economy :Doh: In places like Whitby the only solution is to put the big stores out of town-a couple on the outskirts-but even then anyone including locals all go shopping there :thumb:I don't know the solution but I think most people spend money in Whitby :thumb: You only have to walk around to see all the shops are open and taking money :thumb:It is not full of charity shops or empty shops :thumb:
There is a very,very big car park down by the harbor that you can park up overnight for about a fiver but hardly anyone uses it because they all want to park up on the cliff tops with a excellent sea view :thumb:Never been able to find space myself :ROFLMAO: too many M/Hs there :ROFLMAO:
All the campsites are busy so I cannot see the reasoning behind there moans (greedy?)and as said the shops are busy so again what do they want ? B&Bs yep they may have rooms empty but M/Hs are not the cause of this :winky: by there very nature people who have them don't do B&B :ROFLMAO: Some out of town pubs welcome M/Hs because they realize that they bring business that they may not have had :thumb: Indeed I know of one pub that more than welcome any M/H or caravans by letting you use his large car park free if you have a couple of drinks or a meal :thumb:He even saves you a spot (if you ask him )if you want to drive the 6 mls or so into Whitby :thumb: and go back there for the night.
A happy solution could well be for the council to put signs up stating vans welcome down by the big empty car park :thumb: and a polite notice not to park on the cliff top :ROFLMAO:
terry
 

GJH

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Accept all of that, Graham, but when a council "addresses" an issue they usually take the easiest course of action, which is to prohibit or charge prohibitive rates.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one - much too wide an issue :Smile:

There are places which prohibit overnight parking in empty car parks, the aim being to make folk pay to use camp sites.
Now I will disagree :Smile:

The reason why large vehicles are prohibited from many car parks, even when they are empty overnight, is that they are not built to withstand constant use by heavy vehicles. Many existing car parks were built years ago when the weight of the vehicles they were intended for was no more than 1.5 tonnes.

The costs of upgrading of those car parks to accept larger vehicles can only be raised from taxpayers and/or increased parking charges. I don't suppose many non-motorhome owners (or even those of us who do own motorhomes) would be very pleased to see their taxes/charges increased just so that we could park where we want to :Smile:

The only way to achieve change is to provide evidence that there will be an economic benefit - and, as Jim points out, that evidence is not always available.

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GJH

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There is a very,very big car park down by the harbor that you can park up overnight for about a fiver but hardly anyone uses it because they all want to park up on the cliff tops with a excellent sea view :thumb:Never been able to find space myself :ROFLMAO: too many M/Hs there :ROFLMAO:

If you mean the Marina car park, past the Co-op, Terry, parking is free from 6pm to 9am but habitation is banned - see Here. The only reason people "get away with it" is that the council doesn't have the funds to employ people to enforce the ban all night, every night. So, unless it becomes a problem they put up with it.

A happy solution could well be for the council to put signs up stating vans welcome down by the big empty car park :thumb: and a polite notice not to park on the cliff top :ROFLMAO:
terry

Good idea. What we need now is for any members living in Whitby (or those who regularly visit the town in their vans) to contact the council and persuade them of the merits of such a scheme :Smile:
 

johnp10

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Now I will disagree :Smile:

The reason why large vehicles are prohibited from many car parks, even when they are empty overnight, is that they are not built to withstand constant use by heavy vehicles. Many existing car parks were built years ago when the weight of the vehicles they were intended for was no more than 1.5 tonnes.

The costs of upgrading of those car parks to accept larger vehicles can only be raised from taxpayers and/or increased parking charges. I don't suppose many non-motorhome owners (or even those of us who do own motorhomes) would be very pleased to see their taxes/charges increased just so that we could park where we want to :Smile:

The only way to achieve change is to provide evidence that there will be an economic benefit - and, as Jim points out, that evidence is not always available.

We definitely do disagree here, Graham.
Yes, there are "existing" car parks, but how many places are there where real estate has not been sacrificed in order to build car parks? Very few.
They arent built to ease parking problems in a town, but more often to generate revenue.
Builders vans up to 3.5t gross or more habitually use these parks. Most MHs are no more than this in terms of GVW. There are those heavier of course, but there will always be exceptions to any rule.
Providing evidence of visitors spending money isnt an issue. I would have thought it inherent. Tourists spend money. That's why tourism is referred to as an "Industry".
Most seaside towns have coach parks..why?
Because coaches bring visitors, visitors spend money, etc etc .
Coach parks are built to stand more than 1.5t, so the heavy vehicles argument doesnt stand up.

Just had a look at the Whitby website re parking.
3 parks are designated as coach parks, allowing motorhomes greater than 1.5t to park in coach bays.
All 3 are "No overnight camping or sleeping".
Facilities already exist, but use isnt permitted.

Thought: If a coach driver has a kip in the park, is he breaking a bye law?
 

GJH

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We definitely do disagree here, Graham.
Yes, there are "existing" car parks, but how many places are there where real estate has not been sacrificed in order to build car parks? Very few.
They arent built to ease parking problems in a town, but more often to generate revenue.
Yes, there are many car parks where buildings were knocked down. Thinking about Tees-side the demolition was slum clearance - but car parks take up a lot less space than new retail/industrial developments. Again, thinking about Tees-side, the car parks are well filled during the day so they are necessary (i.e. prevent parking problems).

Builders vans up to 3.5t gross or more habitually use these parks. Most MHs are no more than this in terms of GVW. There are those heavier of course, but there will always be exceptions to any rule.
From personal experience, heavy vans get ticketed.

Providing evidence of visitors spending money isnt an issue. I would have thought it inherent. Tourists spend money. That's why tourism is referred to as an "Industry".
Most seaside towns have coach parks..why?
Because coaches bring visitors, visitors spend money, etc etc .
Absolutely, and in exactly the same way as all other daytime visitors. The coaches (and their passengers) are away before nightfall. As Jim pointed out, lots of motorhome owners buy food before setting out.

Coach parks are built to stand more than 1.5t, so the heavy vehicles argument doesnt stand up.

Just had a look at the Whitby website re parking.
3 parks are designated as coach parks, allowing motorhomes greater than 1.5t to park in coach bays.
All 3 are "No overnight camping or sleeping".
Facilities already exist, but use isnt permitted.
See my earlier post in reply to Terry :Smile:

Thought: If a coach driver has a kip in the park, is he breaking a bye law?
::bigsmile:

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Terry

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If you mean the Marina car park, past the Co-op, Terry, parking is free from 6pm to 9am but habitation is banned - see Here. The only reason people "get away with it" is that the council doesn't have the funds to employ people to enforce the ban all night, every night. So, unless it becomes a problem they put up with it.

Hi Graham yes I do mean the car parks you have on the map :thumb:The very far one may well have been made into a over-nighter ? Last time I was there the car park attendant told me that you could park there no problem :thumb: and that they were on about charging a fiver for over night.:thumb:::bigsmile: Perhaps he has foresight ?::bigsmile: or knows something we don't :thumb: I certainly got the impression off him that it was a done deal :ROFLMAO:
Perhaps one of the cliff toppers could risk loosing there place and have a drive down to get the latest info for us :ROFLMAO:
There are literally hundreds of places within 5/6 mls of Whitby you can park up for the night if the desire takes you,and nobody bats a eye :thumb:Very friendly place unlike a lot of Cornwall ::bigsmile::winky:
terry
terry
 

GJH

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Hi Graham yes I do mean the car parks you have on the map :thumb:The very far one may well have been made into a over-nighter ? Last time I was there the car park attendant told me that you could park there no problem :thumb: and that they were on about charging a fiver for over night.:thumb:::bigsmile: Perhaps he has foresight ?::bigsmile: or knows something we don't :thumb: I certainly got the impression off him that it was a done deal :ROFLMAO:
Perhaps one of the cliff toppers could risk loosing there place and have a drive down to get the latest info for us :ROFLMAO:
It would be nice if it did happen Terry. Johnp10 would be a happy bunny :Smile: A couple of people have told me (for the parking web site) the attendants were helpful but pointed out the no overnighting rule.

There are literally hundreds of places within 5/6 mls of Whitby you can park up for the night if the desire takes you,and nobody bats a eye :thumb:Very friendly place unlike a lot of Cornwall ::bigsmile::winky:
terry
terry
Not only that, the C&CC has lots of THS sites in the area - we were going to go to one a few weeks ago but got waylaid and couldn't :cry:
 

Terry

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Try this one (below) Graham :thumb: home made ice cream,cafe that makes decent food and will make you a large choccy cake to take with you for about 6 to 8 quid depending on who's working :ROFLMAO::thumb: £10 per night inc leccy
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=6131
terry
edit just looked at prices being charged for others hee hee or have they jumped on the bandwagon ?

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GJH

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Try this one (below) Graham :thumb: home made ice cream,cafe that makes decent food and will make you a large choccy cake to take with you for about 6 to 8 quid depending on who's working :ROFLMAO::thumb: £10 per night inc leccy
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=6131
terry
edit just looked at prices being charged for others hee hee or have they jumped on the bandwagon ?

The THS we fancied was at the Community College, easy walking distance from the town. Never mind, I'm sure they'll do it again :Smile:
 

Terry

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The THS we fancied was at the Community College, [COLOR="[COLOR="Red"]Red"]easy walking distance[/COLOR][/COLOR] from the town. Never mind, I'm sure they'll do it again :Smile:

That's why they all park on the cliff tops :ROFLMAO::thumb:
terry

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wasp

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We usually park up at Low Moor the CC site it is basic and cheap:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:
 

lifesabeach

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I'm not pointing a finger at any member of this forum.. but , and we all know it, there are many who see it as their 'right' to park up and sleep overnight where ever they can find a FREE parking place..

If there were 'pay to use' 'aires' in the UK , the same ones would probably still not use. I've seen it in France.. ... they use the free water and dumping then drive off down the road to park up for free.. or, stay the night, not pay and escape before the police come around to check the tickets.. then arrive back later the same day to repeat this performance .. day on day ..

The economic advantages to a town are debatable.. most stock up before arriving, some will buy a few odds and ends but by and large the majority do all their shopping at an out of town retail park.. which is only natural.. it's what we all do before going to a site as we know the site shop will be more expensive.
There is no such thing as free parking.
Its been payed for by tax payers and road tax and vat on fuel on the van itself and everything thats in the van!
Just because there is not a meter does not mean it is free.
Its all crazy material nonscense.
Jobs were created building motohomes need I go on.
Why do people always feel people are freeloading or getting something free?
I dont want to use an Aire they are horrible places I just want to fill up and dump without being ripped off.
Again the Aires have been payed for through tax but the system tries to capitalise over and above that tax.
Its the material world thats destroying this planet not some bloke wild camping in his camper minding his own business:Cool:
 

Techno

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Is it any wonder we go to France.
The Ship Inn at Sewerby (Bridlington) does motorhomes (no tuggers) for £5.50 per night (rally price) £10 normal price (5vans) or for a £20 membership you can have £5 per night all year round. Cliff top sea view good beer and food. Stuff Scarborough council and it's parking/toilet charges!
We did sea fishing too on the Yorkshire Lass out of Brid £15 for 3hrs inc tackle & bait. I caught 21 fish :Eeek:
I know this as I've spent bank holiday weekend 5 days on a motorroamers meet there.

Vote with your feet :thumb:

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Last edited:
Apr 18, 2009
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Not long enough!
As we are a large "Club" with nearly 12,000 members?? Is it not worth a letter or two, to the council and local media of Whitby putting our point across:Blush: or shall we just carry on bitching about it:ROFLMAO:
 

Techno

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Impressive :Eeek: So Fun really is the BIGGEST :thumb: You'd better get writing I'll stand right behind you :winky:
 
Apr 18, 2009
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Not long enough!
sori av yu sean mi spelin? neads sombod wiv moor brans then mi:Doh:

And can you not stand so close please:ROFLMAO:

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Terry

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So who is going to write the letter ?What exactly are "WE" going to say in the letter ::bigsmile:Who ever writes the "letter" stating what we want to say ? will have my support :thumb: I will even stump up the stamp money :thumb::winky: thereby giving financial support :thumb::ROFLMAO: So who is the best letter writer?-perhaps Graham (GDH) ? he always tries to make good sensible posts ::bigsmile: or Pusser ? (where ever he's gone) after all it is in his specialty field (loo's etc) and would be no doubt entertaining :ROFLMAO:
terry
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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So who is going to write the letter ?What exactly are "WE" going to say in the letter ::bigsmile:Who ever writes the "letter" stating what we want to say

terry

ePetitions .

are the way to go.. get 100,000 signatures and it MAY be debated in parliament ..

have a search .. I'm almost sure there was one started a while ago..

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