Welcome to Motorhomefacts, we are a thriving motorhome community (Largest in Europe). Why Not JOIN NOW and get instant access to more of the website. It costs nothing to join and only takes a few minutes. We have 200,000 different people visiting our site monthly and this amount of motorhomers in one place guarantees a fast response to any questions you may have. We also have unique facilities not found elsewhere such as our Online Logbook, stopover tracker, Motorhome directory with Ebay type feedback and the largest repository of motorhome campsites reviews found anywhere
We joined the MCC 2 or 3 years ago to support them in their efforts to get Aire type parking in the UK. They now seem to have given up without much of a fight so I guess they must have been bought off by the powers that be so, anyone got any thoughts as to how we, as a group, could take on all the Local Authorities? I know it wont be easy as the CC is totally against so we would have to fight them as well but hey, this is something we all want isn't it? Can we get a thread going with sensible ideas as to what we could do as a group. What are all your thoughts on this?
While the idea of having aires in this country is a laudable one why do we have to be the same as other countries. Surely the idea of going to the continent is to go and stay in different surroundings.
They would to a certain extent be in direct competion to Cl's and CS's which would then struggle.
i think you need to leave the local authorities out and start with the parish councils and show them they can make some cash for the small town and village and let them work on the local authorities
at this time the village pub/shop/hall needs every £ they can
chapter
I think we need to bear in mind land availability.
We have roughly the same number of people living on about 38% of the land that the French have.
Patrick
In one of my other personas I wrote a 4 page lead article for Motorcaravan magazine a few years back when they were running their campaign to get aires in this country. I interviewed councillors etc in this country and Mayors and tourist officials in France. One thing that became very clear very quickly is that the two groups are completely different. Everything in this country comes down to minimising risk - everyone was terrified of being sued. I got endless e.mails from "Risk Assessment Managers" from local authorities. A few quotes:-
"What would happen if someone injured themselves while staying on our aire?"
"We'd be over-run with travellers and gypsies"
"Why should we give these freeloaders (yes, they meant YOU!) somewhere to stay?"
Needless to say all these remarks came from officials in the UK. The Caravan Club has made its views very clear ("dangerous!") and the C&CC can't see the point. After all, why would they want to see a free facility anywhere near one of their sites?
The situation in each country is also very different. As someone has already pointed out the French have a lot less density of population. They also give more power to local mayors etc. The aires system is mainly a result of the historical situation where France set up a chain of Municipal campsites after the 1st World War to give the population access to cheap holidays. The fact that the French caravan season is very short and the growth in popularity of motorhomes, which now far outnumber caravans in France, and which are used for a much longer season than tents and caravans means that the pattern of demand has changed. The Municipal sites aren't worth keeping open for 9 months but the villages and towns don't want to miss out on potential business coming into the shops, restaurants etc so the answer is to provide aires to bring affluent older people in. They don't do it because they love motorhomes - they do it because it makes sound financial sense. Even on 8 year old figures the average French motorhome brought in 25 Euros per night to towns and villages with an aire. The UK has more all year sites and many more sites open for 8-9 months. The need isn't there for British towns. The figures aren't half as impressive here and when you add in the fear of being sued etc. it's a fair bet that aires will never take off in the UK.
The English say, "Why should we?" while the French say, "Why not?" When I lived in France I had a 6-piece band. We played all sorts of little towns and usually asked the mayor if two camping-cars (the rhythm guitarist had a Burstner) could stay overnight after the gig. The answer was always, without exception, "But of course - why not?" I've done similar in this country but I have never risked asking the local mayor for permission - I just KNOW what the answer would be.
PS - You'll have noticed that the Motorcaravan Magazine campaign was quietly dropped.
I
The Caravan Club has made its views very clear ("dangerous!")
What evidence have you for this ? The CC make it clear that motorway aires are not sensible places to overnight but the same advice prevails in any thread on MHF as well so the CC can hardly be said to hold revolutionary views on this.
OldWomble wrote:
so I guess they must have been bought off by the powers that be so,
Again, have you any evidence that they have been " bought off" ? They might have listened to the argument and decided that they cannot bring any pressure to bear so have given up. What authorities are supposed to have paid up ?
I do wish people would not make sweeping statements.
I'd like aires, and would, like many, be willing to pay a reasonable sum to use them, but I can see the other side of the argument and that is the argument that will prevail with many authorities. That's not to say that it is a lost cause but it will not be helped by inaccuracies.
The Caravan Club has made its views very clear ("dangerous!")
What evidence have you for this ? The CC make it clear that motorway aires are not sensible places to overnight but the same advice prevails in any thread on MHF as well so the CC can hardly be said to hold revolutionary views on this.
I approached the CC with this at the time as did Motorcaravan magazine. There have been, over some time, quite a few letters in the CC magazine on the subject and the official response from the CC is, "We cannot recommend our members use aires for reasons of security" Not just motorway aires - all aires. If I have time I may try and find my notes for this article. I remember one report where the Chairman of the CC was speaking at a conference and seemed to have no idea what aires were and did, indeed, seem to think that a motorway parking area was what was meant by an "aire de camping-car". I had a short sequence of letters back and forth with the CC while researching the article when they repeated this "We cannot recommend... etc" line so, yes, there is plenty of evidence. I do try not to write stuff I can't back up. I hope this answers your question. Of course, the CC's view may have changed in the last 4 years but I haven't seen any evidence of that.
I really wish we could go contiental in the UK and aires, stellplatz, sostas, call them what you will. But I feel it will be a long time before it happens.
There are far too many organization's, councils and individuals who immediately think, 'what's in it for me', what angle can I use to screw money out of people to make it worth my while. And if I can't make any money out of it, then what barriers, objections can I come up with to prevent anyone else making any money. Then you have the British public in general who cannot grasp the idea that people who actually like to tour around. Anyone in a caravan or motorhome is a gypsy and must be moved on. And those who do know the difference, can't see any problems, we should just use campsites.
The real barrier to getting aires/ stellplatz that are open 365 days a year is that people with motorhomes, are tightfisted and wouldn't pay to stay on them anyway.
While the idea of having aires in this country is a laudable one why do we have to be the same as other countries. Surely the idea of going to the continent is to go and stay in different surroundings.
They would to a certain extent be in direct competion to Cl's and CS's which would then struggle.
Derek
Iamb not sure your right Derek, CI's & CS's are normally just a field, very few are hard standing so they are not suitable for us in the wetter times we normally suffer during the winter months. If they all installed hard standings then yes, we probably would not need anything else.
chapter wrote:
i think you need to leave the local authorities out and start with the parish councils and show them they can make some cash for the small town and village and let them work on the local authorities
at this time the village pub/shop/hall needs every £ they can
chapter
I think that is the best idea I have seen and maybe we should all start a campaign to get these smaller local councils on board.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
All times are GMT + 1 Hour Page 1 of 4Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4Next
Germany
