Bloody daft councils

Jewellbags

Jewellbags

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So we headed off to hauling island this evening for a night away . The pub we were aiming for has a full carpark so we are taking a chance in parking in the council car park (right on the beach) by the pub so we can keep an eye on the MH with the dogs inside (see pic). What is with our English stazi councils and their camping restrictions - don’t they realise the business they would bring into struggling seaside towns if they were a little more flexible ?
Probably more interested in the parking fine then the revenue we would generate .

bunch of bureaucratic idiots
 
Torbay seems to have a very relaxed attitude to parking ( Council, not the gestapo aka private parking firms)
One lady was living in her small van ( no bathroom facilities, no kitchen, she was literally sleeping in back of a car sized van) for months and was left to it until she started putting hand made posters on the notice board and chalking on the pavements and her vehicle ( mental health issues I think)
Very large motorhome parked on Marine Parade all this week ( they look like full timers) and several motorhome are stored on roads all year round. Even a caravan parked on the seafront road for several weeks.

I think it might depend how posh the council think their area is. Parking on pavements is accepted as the norm here but park an inch outside the white lines in a privately patrolled car park , another story.
 
Jewellbags said:
So we headed off to hauling island this evening for a night away . The pub we were aiming for has a full carpark so we are taking a chance in parking in the council car park (right on the beach) by the pub so we can keep an eye on the MH with the dogs inside (see pic). What is with our English stazi councils and their camping restrictions - don’t they realise the business they would bring into struggling seaside towns if they were a little more flexible ?
Probably more interested in the parking fine then the revenue we would generate .

bunch of bureaucratic idiots
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I don't quite understand the problem ???
 
Yorick said:
I don't quite understand the problem ???
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Because we will probably end up with a parking ticket of a fine for overnight sleeping and the car park is empty
 
nicholsong said:
These sort of restrictions seem to be prevalent in UK, and spreading, but largely absent in other countries where we tour.

Why the difference?
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In France years ago motorhomes weren't allowed on campsites so Aires were created for them. I presume here they were always allowed on sites. Another reason is the population is double here compared to land mass, so that will breed intolerance.
 
Richard and Ann said:
In France years ago motorhomes weren't allowed on campsites so Aires were created for them. I presume here they were always allowed on sites. Another reason is the population is double here compared to land mass, so that will breed intolerance.
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took alot of organizing and demos though to get the first aires .
many deliberately put rubbish etc all over where they stopped the nights just to annoy the local councils etc , it worked in the end .
railway stations became easy stops ,if you left no rubbish or mess they allowed you back after a few days . post office yards as well no rubbish stop a night , some even had free toilets and showers really for workers but they let m,homers use them.
 
It is only in the last year that Hayling has banned overnighting, when it was allowed it was a tad expensive at £15 in the summer plus daytime parking rate I think it worked out at about £25/24hr, cheaper in the winter.
Their reason for banning was that Motorhomes parked too close together so it wasn't safe. Strange how they allow them to park during the day then.
 
The parking restrictions on Hayling Island has been publicised on here many times, and we haven't even been there yet.
As soon as people start taking the mickey, by staying full time or longer than they should, the council has to act to stop it becoming a tip.
I would have thought the council should have thought about making MH parking provision by way of a ticket machine in clearly marked out areas, with a maximum stay period. Then it could be policed by traffic wardens, and those taking the mickey would be fined or towed away if necessary.
Shame that these measures have to be taken, but you give an inch and the irresponsible selfish nerds take a mile.

LES

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Geoff C. said:
Hayling island used to allow overnighting at one car park for a fee ( payed at a machine) but this was abused with people not bothering to pay and staying for long periods. They now have signs at all car parks banning overnight sleeping in any vehical.
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I can't resist this.

So they need overnight 'sleeping policemen', which presumably go 'bump' in the night.
 
www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Vehicles used for habitation.

I don’t particularly like them and I drive them, but I don’t see why tax money should be given to them for free parking when there is me and plenty of better causes that need the money. The driver cpc is just a tax why is that not free? Well you could argue that the motorway services etc...
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk

The "Similar" arguments have been running for some days now in the above post.

Boils down to the old story. Once some "person" takes the proverbial, Makes a mess, overstays, etc:
The local residents, wind the council jobsworths up, and Bans start to appear. I think we all know that 90% of the issue would disapear IF the UK did have an "Aire" type system. But said system needs Government backing, and for a Minority (which is what we are, but without minority "rights" I might add?) "They" are not going to go out on some financial limb, when, Sadly, so much more is making demands on stretched finances.

Those of us who are members of the "Clubs", could make representation, for a limited number of hardstandings on as many sites as possible, for MAX 24hr stays without all the facilities, at a fixed Small cost. That is about as near as you would get in this country. However I won`t be caught holding my breath.

In the meantime I will continue to make use of any "Pub" Parking that is on offer. Wether or not it actually complies with "rules" on "camping!".
 
Lenny HB said:
It is only in the last year that Hayling has banned overnighting, when it was allowed it was a tad expensive at £15 in the summer plus daytime parking rate I think it worked out at about £25/24hr, cheaper in the winter.
Their reason for banning was that Motorhomes parked too close together so it wasn't safe. Strange how they allow them to park during the day then.
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That may be the excuse they gave but in reality it was because one or two selfish sods spoiled it all for the rest of us by taking the p**s and setting up a permanent camp there and the beach hut owners complained. We were there 2 or 3 years ago it was already obvious they were determined not to move. I am surprised that the council took as long as did to change the rules.

Shame really because it was a lovely place to stay with views over the beach to the Isle of Wight.

I was brought up just outside of Havant and as kids it was a family treat to be taken to that part of the beach in the 50s and early 60s. Until Dad got his first car we used to cycle down there (me on the seat on Dad's crossbar and my younger brother on a seat over Mum's rear wheels. Occasionally we used to have a real treat and take the puffing billy train. We used to have a picnic in the scrub grass behind the beach. Dad got his little meths stove out for a brew up and us kids were treated to some orange squash. Much simpler world then, we were poor but happy.
 
Used to park up and/or stay at Hayling quite often.

Was always gobsmacked at the number of motorhomes which went out of their way to avoid paying the £15 fee, left their rubbish blowing around, dropped grey water on the carpark so the windsurfers had to walk through it and the one motorhomer who first thing in the morning couldnt be bothered to walk the two minutes to the public toilets so pee'd against the picnic benches.

Not at all surprised they banned overnight parking.

Personally don't get the revenue argument as I don't believe people who overnighted in west beach carpark fed any more wealth into the community than the ones who stay on the Hayling area campsites. But appreciate others will think otherwise.

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Jewellbags said:
Because we will probably end up with a parking ticket of a fine for overnight sleeping and the car park is empty
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But that would be a result of your own choice, not a problem :)
nicholsong said:
These sort of restrictions seem to be prevalent in UK, and spreading, but largely absent in other countries where we tour.

Why the difference?
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May I suggest you look at the explanation Here and at the many threads on which similar questions have been answered.
 
We're on a paid place here in Germany. It's a carpark but a nice one in a small village near a leisure area with a river running by.

For the princely sum of 12€ per 24 hours we get a dedicated place beside the river with a picnic table alongside each MH parking bay (8 in total). There are no services at all but that's fine, we don't need them. It is a paid stellplatz but, as most folk will know, there is an abundance of totally free places made available by local councils.

I fail to see why UK councils can't offer similar.
 
Southdowners said:
I fail to see why UK councils can't offer similar.
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May I suggest that perhaps it may be because in the scale of social and local challenges faced by councils, overnight parking for motorhomes simply pales into insignificance...

Perhaps there is justification for motorhome owners who want such areas to pool financial resources, purchase land up and down the country and set up their own areas to use.

With a bit of effort, and if the 'increased revenue' arguement really stands up, then local traders associations will be more than happy to support any planning permission applications required, maybe even financially contribute to the application fee. I am guessing it would cost a mimimum of £25k per location to buy the land and set it up.

It also feels like it would need to be a Limited Company (in the same style as the CCC, CMC) as there will be rates, maintenance, waste collection, services, etc to pay and overnight parking fees to collect and to be honest, that is where I see the real issue.

People don't appear to want to pay enough to cover the true cost.
 
cornish boy said:
May I suggest that perhaps it may be because in the scale of social and local challenges faced by councils, overnight parking for motorhomes simply pales into insignificance...
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Provision of designated parking spaces for motorhomes is easy. Assign spaces for them and a payment machine offering 12 or 24 hour parking.

Services could be provided such as fresh water, EHU and dump for an additional cost. It's easy revenue for councils at relatively low outlay.

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Judging by the parking fees for cars in our area it would be lucrative - no question about it.
 
I pay £12/day (00:00-23:59) to park locally, and need to be there early or don't get a space.

Our motorhome would take up two spaces, so would need to pay £24 a day, or more importantly £48 to park overnight.

Can't see many paying that kind of amount for no facilities, most wouldn't pay that for a campsite! :D
 
ctc said:
What ever is done here it will be abused.
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Agreed, I personally I think the cost of policing it would outweight any benefit.
But I accept others will have a different opinion.

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It is important here to highlight the efforts of one forward looking local council when it comes to motorhome facilities. Canterbury CC has had a large dedicated area for motorhomes in one of its P&R car parks for many years. It includes water and grey and waste dump facilities and toilets open during the day and a free shuttle bus to and from the city centre. It costs £3.50 per day, so £7 if you overnight (but then £3.50 for each additional overnight). They also have a couple of motorhome friendly car parks in the Herne Bay area but they have no other facilities and are more expensive per hour, but are free from 9pm to 8am

From what we have seen the P&R facility brings in lots of visitors, many from Europe. We use it and always spend money in the city when we are there, thus helping the local economy.

If this council can overcome all the "problems" of legalities then the rest can if they wanted to. But, sadly many of them don't want to, and often for the same reason that they are allowing their city and town centres to gradually die, i.e. they are too busy concentrating on the short term "crowd pleasers", rather than the long term economic health of the area. That makes sure that the councillors get voted in time and time again.

After all in a democracy the electorate usually end up with the elected members they deserve. Maybe in other European countries the electorate deserve better and so get better.
 
GJH said:
But that would be a result of your own choice, not a problem :)

May I suggest you look at the explanation Here and at the many threads on which similar questions have been answered.
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Graham

I looked again at your excellent website but found no reference to foreign country restrictions, or lack of.

Maybe I should have phrased my post differently in that I wonder why other countries do not find much necessity to restrict parking/overnighting/sleeping and in many cases positively encourage it.

The UK restrictions hardly bother us as we usually only spend a few days there, and park in a village in Kent opposite the church, on a friend's farm for a couple of bottles or at Canterbury P+R where I have a good to/fro helpful relationship with the City Parking Manager and his staff at the P+R - spent 1/2 hour with him discussing their new proposed MH facility at Wincheap, with suggestions which he listened to.

Geoff
 
Look what happened in Weymouth a few years ago. Reported on Motorhome Facts by Mr Plod.
The local council, at the behest of a local councillor, went to the expense of making an “ aire “ with I believe water and drainage facility. Before it was officially opened the local campsite owners apparently complained and threatened to withhold their business rates if it was allowed to open.
Instead of standing up for what was a good idea it was automatically given up.
To the point I will not use any campsites within the Weymouth area and I know quite a few friends who were aware of what happened do’nt.
I have used a few of the North Devon council run car parks that allow overnighting for £5, I think that is what it was June, we did get a text message a day later telling us our time was up, that was 48 hours !
BernieT
 
That Weymouth saga was unfortunately typical of any attempts, in this case by a L.A officer and Andy to achieve a good facility.

Fortunately Canterbury have the opposite view and Colin and his staff welcome MHs and one even said I wish we had more. Well when Wincheap P+R MH facility is open the total capacity for MH parking will more than double and will have two service points. Morrisons next door must be delighted as a lot will stock up there instead of stopping at Tesco on the A2 at Dover, which we cannot get into with their new 2.9m ht barrier.

Do Councillors not have to declare vested interests and be excluded from voting, or do they just lean on employed officers to drop the schemes?

Geoff
 
cornish boy said:
Perhaps there is justification for motorhome owners who want such areas to pool financial resources, purchase land up and down the country and set up their own areas to use.
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So the councils can continue to waste money on stupid schemes , stuff no one wants whilst the kerbs & drains & pavements are not cleaned & there are no bins available anywhere.

cornish boy said:
Our motorhome would take up two spaces, so would need to pay £24 a day, or more importantly £48 to park overnight.
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That's if they are a council who allow you to buy 2 tickets .many specifically exclude such practice.

cornish boy said:
I pay £12/day
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& there is the problem.Whilst anyone is prepared to pay such ridiculous amounts to park councils & private parking companies will continue to take the piss.

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