This is why the locals don’t like motorhomes…

[VXman]

In the grand scheme of things though what HARM are they actually doing?

For me it's about fairness. It looks like a lovely spot. It should be available for all to enjoy. If it was a proper Aire like in France and a popular spot it would probably stay maximum stay 1 night (or 2/3). What they have done is commandeered this spot for themselves and by the looks of it will be there for quite a while. It's a public land - they do not have rights to it. It's selfish behaviour. The odd night of subtle discrete parking fine but not this. This is the reason the 'no motorhomes' etc signs get put up.

 

[WillH]

I live a few miles away , the signs are enforceable but we have no parking wardens to do so. This has been going on for as long as I can remember, and it wasn't a problem until the last few years. Though there is no-one to enforce the ban we happily still have a squad to clean up when the visitors leave.

 

[jdk62]

And what is the genuine reason for the bans ?

Other than financial etc?

The car park at Walpole is free, so it is not financial…
Now some do not leave any traces, but lots do….. evidenced by the amount of rubbish and emptied cassette contents on the sands below to sea wall…..

Am always amazed at the selfishness of people and how many believe that having something free and abusing/ignoring rules is acceptable, and they then moan when others call it out.

Takes all sorts I suppose.

 

[Northernraider]

For me it's about fairness. It looks like a lovely spot. It should be available for all to enjoy. If it was a proper Aire like in France and a popular spot it would probably stay maximum stay 1 night (or 2/3). What they have done is commandeered this spot for themselves and by the looks of it will be there for quite a while. It's a public land - they do not have rights to it. It's selfish behaviour. The odd night of subtle discrete parking fine but not this. This is the reason the 'no motorhomes' etc signs get put up.

By that mindset I'd say that every person that built a house with a view eons ago did exactly the same thing it's now impossible to find a bit land that isn't allegedly owned by someone. But at somepoint they just took it or stole it

First come first served

 

[Northernraider]

I live a few miles away , the signs are enforceable but we have no parking wardens to do so. This has been going on for as long as I can remember, and it wasn't a problem until the last few years. Though there is no-one to enforce the ban we happily still have a squad to clean up when the visitors leave.

It's only a problem now due to the Internet

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[Northernraider]

The car park at Walpole is free, so it is not financial…
Now some do not leave any traces, but lots do….. evidenced by the amount of rubbish and emptied cassette contents on the sands below to sea wall…..

Am always amazed at the selfishness of people and how many believe that having something free and abusing/ignoring rules is acceptable, and they then moan when others call it out.

Takes all sorts I suppose.

I'm always amazed that people defend this right to aquire land and then restrict other peoples access to it

Just because the majority have been trained over decades and centuries to obey rules with no actual founding bar someone with alleged authority decided to implement.

My opinion no Man whether politician or King is greater than me. I prefer to live by morals rather than rules

 

[AdrianChen]

I cannot read the detail on the signs. Do any of them have reference to a TRO or ByLaw?

If not I assume they are unenforceable.

That may also answer the next poster Q as to why authorities do not send one of the 'wardens(who they have sitting around on pay + pension).

Oh I didn't know that they had to reference a TRO/ByLaw - not sure if any of the signs round us do - I must check next time I'm in town!

 

[VXman]

By that mindset I'd say that every person that built a house with a view eons ago did exactly the same thing it's now impossible to find a bit land that isn't allegedly owned by someone. But at somepoint they just took it or stole it

First come first served

Of course that's true in history but we are a little more civilised now (when some folk are!)

So imagine you were/are living in a house with a lovely view across public land (maybe you are) you'd support someone coming along and setting up right in front of your house ?- or even by your logic - build a house in front of you!

 

[jdk62]

I'm always amazed that people defend this right to aquire land and then restrict other peoples access to it

Just because the majority have been trained over decades and centuries to obey rules with no actual founding bar someone with alleged authority decided to implement.

My opinion no Man whether politician or King is greater than me. I prefer to live by morals rather than rules

Fair enough…. Can you PM me your address so I can park up on your drive for a week or two?

Thanks

 

[Northernraider]

Of course that's true in history but we are a little more civilised now (when some folk are!)

So imagine you were/are living in a house with a lovely view across public land (maybe you are) you'd support someone coming along and setting up right in front of your house ?- or even by your logic - build a house in front of you!

Well I don't own a house my van is my home . But yes unfortunately you have no right to a view . You buy a property you don't buy the view or the landscape around it.

You may say civilised but I've a different view. I think we are simply in a time of modern day slavery . And it's getting worse.

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[Northernraider]

Fair enough…. Can you PM me your address so I can park up on your drive for a week or two?

Thanks

It changes day to day .. today I'm here

You're most welcome to come park here. Just don't leave any trace


P.s , no one is Parked on your drive, a member of the public is Parked in a public carpark . There's a difference

 

[Northernraider]

Of course that's true in history but we are a little more TRAINED now (when some folk are!)

fixed that for you

 

[Northernraider]

Oh I didn't know that they had to reference a TRO/ByLaw - not sure if any of the signs round us do - I must check next time I'm in town!

Yes they're meant to , at least in Scotland they are to stop some local nimby just putting a sign up because he wants a view of a Loch all to himself.

 

[Northernraider]

The car park at Walpole is free, so it is not financial…
Now some do not leave any traces, but lots do….. evidenced by the amount of rubbish and emptied cassette contents on the sands below to sea wall…..

Am always amazed at the selfishness of people and how many believe that having something free and abusing/ignoring rules is acceptable, and they then moan when others call it out.

Takes all sorts I suppose.

I was walking the dog when I first replied to this so I couldn't answer each point individually... but I'll do so now .


The car park maybe free BUT the campsites, b&b etc near it aren't and it's often down to those businesses complaining that someone is getting something free that cause an issue.


Some leave no trace = then they should be free and able to park there.

Some don't = then that's the ones that should be fined , or confronted by those who do leave no trace.
We don't imprison everyone because someone commits murder. So why ban everyone because of a few bad apples?

Having something free? ...that's a rare thing these days but it shouldn't be. The world is how old ? It was once free , man decided they were more entitled to it so bred like rabbits and slowly those who could fight better took land from those who couldn't, eventually the lie of "civilised " and "society" came about , we got police to deal with murder and theft ...but created more and more acquirement of property , often by force or by using others .

So now we have a world where everything is owned by someone, you're born a slave. Forced to go to school where you're trained to be a better slave , a few might escape but the masses are there to provide and enrich those at the top. You're appeased with a wage that if you're lucky will provide more than just basic food and shelter and you're imprisoned by rule upon rule that you must obey.

Yes you will think I'm mad ...many do

I don't care

I would rather just live my life in my own way , I don't kill , I don't steal , I don't leave rubbish or waste lying around...but in truth I would much rather be able to have somewhere I can live , support myself and say bugger off to the rest of the world lol ...but I can't because of property and rules .

I'm one of the few people who really can't wait for a massive natural disaster to just wipe us all out so the earth can start again.

Greed and selfishness annoys me , and I don't mean selfish as someone parking a van by a Loch for a few weeks to so some free fishing

I.mean selfish as in the thousands of people who tell them they can't . Because it spoils their view or takes money from a campsite or simply because they're living life different from the trained drones of the world.


And deep down I believe those in power globally know this , they know the world is over populated and life can't continue as it is .

Greed will kill everyone in the end

 

[Hedgewitch]

I live a few miles away , the signs are enforceable but we have no parking wardens to do so. This has been going on for as long as I can remember,

I have just checked my photo archive - the location/use was fine in 2019, when I remember a very cathartic visit being the only campervan. When I wasn't enjoying a paddle in the sea, or a walk around the Mains (manor house, medieval motte, large pond) I watched cars come and go all day, most disgorging very happy dogs who ran around, had a swim, and then went home. And then I went 2 miles down the road to a paid-for campsite for the night.

After Covid this lovely place was touted on all the "here's where you can rock-up and do what you like for free" apps and has been ruined since then.*

My "if you can afford the feckin' vehicle then you can afford to pay for overnight parking" soapbox looks in danger of getting an outing. Yes, I know that many people want to spend the night somewhere off grid and isolated but this is taking the p*ss and, as usual, a small and selfish minority ruining it for everyone else.


* same with the parking area next to the Caravan Club site, the parking spaces at the isthmus on the way to the lighthouse, and the carpark down by the lighthouse itself.

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[hja]

On one level I don’t care about people parked in these spots. I do however care a lot if either they leave a ness of any sort or they prevent others from enjoying some peace and quiet with wonderful scenery. We live in a crowded land and need to cooperate with each other and not be selfish. I know someone will say that there are plenty of places off the beaten track but many cannot find those or get to them. What makes me very very angry is when selfish behaviour, leaving litter, staying too long etc. means councils put up height barriers that prevent me from staying at a site and taking my van for the day or part of a day to the coast, as in Lincolnshire. We can argue all we like that it is not just motorhomers that leave the mess etc, that there are other ways of dealing with the issues, and so on - all true. BUT we are seen as the culprit and it doesn’t take many selfish, dirty so and sos to ruin it for the rest of.
Rant over!

 

[Northernraider]

On one level I don’t care about people parked in these spots. I do however care a lot if either they leave a ness of any sort or they prevent others from enjoying some peace and quiet with wonderful scenery. We live in a crowded land and need to cooperate with each other and not be selfish. I know someone will say that there are plenty of places off the beaten track but many cannot find those or get to them. What makes me very very angry is when selfish behaviour, leaving litter, staying too long etc. means councils put up height barriers that prevent me from staying at a site and taking my van for the day or part of a day to the coast, as in Lincolnshire. We can argue all we like that it is not just motorhomers that leave the mess etc, that there are other ways of dealing with the issues, and so on - all true. BUT we are seen as the culprit and it doesn’t take many selfish, dirty so and sos to ruin it for the rest of.
Rant over!

And it goes both ways

I'm in a carpark in Germany. 5 dedicated motorhome bays . I'm in number 5

Here's a photo of 1-4

Yet the carpark is half empty

So now a 6.5metre pvc camper has drove in , can't get in a motorhome bay so has Parked on 2 car park spaces.

What will happen, they'll go for a walk, the cars in the mh bays will leave and locals will point and Tut at the mh in the car park bays and complain.


People are the problem In general.

But I doubt those car drivers that parked in the mh bays will give all car drivers a bad name.


What needs to happen is mh owners need to stick together and make a statement.

I Said the other week in response to yet another daily news article complaining about motorhomes that this forum ...the biggest in the UK should give a constructed response to the press . Before more restrictions come in



But truth is no one can be bothered


Many see ME as the enemy because I don't use campsites , I use aires mostly for services and I prefer to park up in carparks on beaches forests etc . I leave no trace and I do no damage , I'm physically harming no one. If someone has their day ruined simply by my presence or if I'm removing their view for a few hours or a day or two I don't really care. They're no more entitled to it than I am.

But I'm not the enemy , the enemy is those looking to remove your freedom, the barriers ,signs etc etc are all unjust and unwarranted. If they're too lazy etc to actually police the wrong doers and just introduce blanket bans or in some cases think charging a fee solves the problem that's their fault not yours and certainly not mine.

I should have the choice if I want to use an expensive campsite or if I want to park in a carpark looking out to sea the same as the car owners are doing.

No overnight is completely unjust as no one can see the view in the dark anyway and mess and rubbish is left regardless of the time of day.

It's all just blanket control fuelled by money .

Rubbish , waste etc claims are simply convenient to impose those restrictions. Mostly caused by cars but I guarantee if they banned all cars from accessing these places there would be more action taken than it seems motorhome owners are willing to do.

Those instead just prefer to say it isnae me it's them and allow themselves to be discriminated against.

 

[jumartoo]

This problem is not only in the motorhoming world, its everywhere now.

Too many people have time and money to do "what they like".

Just in our lives, this has affected us ...

Motorhoming has been spoiled. Lots of places we used to park are now totally closed to ALL vehicles due to the sheer numbers of tourists.
Mountainbiking has been spoiled. Too many, too fast riders sharing paths with walkers and disregarding other people/safety.
The Camino de Santiago has been spoiled. We still read a Camino forum. It's now on tourist company books for guided trips!! The accommodation is getting hard to find a place. (Other popular walking routes elsewhere will have suffered the same I'm sure.)
Climbing areas now have paid for groups on climbing holidays. The rock has been trashed.

And so on ...

There's no end to it, it's only going to get busier before lots of places are totally closed down.

Like Tam we like to park in quiet areas to enjoy the natural beauty around us. We, normally, only spend one or two nights in any one place. But some people decide to procure a space for months on end. There's a particular German motorhomer (one of quite a lot) that arrives on the Mazarron coast for the whole winter, but he's carved out a square for himself, and the last time we rode past, he'd had some gravel delivered for his pitch!

He's not overlooked by any houses, but .... it's still not the "done" thing (there are no services, except for overflowing rubbish bins) and eventually the authorities will get their arses into gear and sort it. They've passed regulations (2 years ago) but they've not implemented them. When/if they do, it will mean the end to ANY parking, not just overnighting.

We keep well away and go inland, but, unfortunately that's becoming popular now, as well.

Anyway, we're on a nice, official parking area, on the Galician coast right now and I need to think about cooking lunch

 

[Northernraider]

This problem is not only in the motorhoming world, its everywhere now.

Too many people have time and money to do "what they like".

Just in our lives, this has affected us ...

Motorhoming has been spoiled. Lots of places we used to park are now totally closed to ALL vehicles due to the sheer numbers of tourists.
Mountainbiking has been spoiled. Too many, too fast riders sharing paths with walkers and disregarding other people/safety.
The Camino de Santiago has been spoiled. We still read a Camino forum. It's now on tourist company books for guided trips!! The accommodation is getting hard to find a place. (Other popular walking routes elsewhere will have suffered the same I'm sure.)
Climbing areas now have paid for groups on climbing holidays. The rock has been trashed.

And so on ...

There's no end to it, it's only going to get busier before lots of places are totally closed down.

Like Tam we like to park in quiet areas to enjoy the natural beauty around us. We, normally, only spend one or two nights in any one place. But some people decide to procure a space for months on end. There's a particular German motorhomer (one of quite a lot) that arrives on the Mazarron coast for the whole winter, but he's carved out a square for himself, and the last time we rode past, he'd had some gravel delivered for his pitch!

He's not overlooked by any houses, but .... it's still not the "done" thing (there are no services, except for overflowing rubbish bins) and eventually the authorities will get their arses into gear and sort it. They've passed regulations (2 years ago) but they've not implemented them. When/if they do, it will mean the end to ANY parking, not just overnighting.

We keep well away and go inland, but, unfortunately that's becoming popular now, as well.

Anyway, we're on a nice, official parking area, on the Galician coast right now and I need to think about cooking lunch

Yes that is the biggest problem. There's just too many people in the world .

Sad fact but the only real answer is that number needs to be reduced drastically.

Any volunteers?


But the grumblings ( roars) around the world just now from Spain, Greece, Venice, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Scotland....all complaining about tourism is just the start .

Civil unrest etc is coming soon .

Motorhomes parked on a carpark or lochside really is small stuff compared to whats coming

Wait till the civil war and bombs start lol , everyone will be wanting a motorhome lol . To escape

 

[nicholsong]

Yes that is the biggest problem. There's just too many people in the world .

Sad fact but the only real answer is that number needs to be reduced drastically.

Any volunteers?


But the grumblings ( roars) around the world just now from Spain, Greece, Venice, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Scotland....all complaining about tourism is just the start .

Civil unrest etc is coming soon .

Motorhomes parked on a carpark or lochside really is small stuff compared to whats coming

Wait till the civil war and bombs start lol , everyone will be wanting a motorhome lol . To escape

I have done my volunteering by not having kids............or dogs

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[Northernraider]

I have done my volunteering by not having kids............or dogs

Not the answer though if no one has kids who inherits the earth?

It's the old they want to euthanize , it's that you should be worried about lol. They can't just round up folk and exterminate them . They've got find ways of killing them off oh wait ...what happened in 2019
I'm not a conspiracy theorist but you do have to wonder eh ....

Anyway joking ( not joking ) aside the world is over populated. And it is the ONLY way their going to tackle climate change, housing crises, and even over tourism. As its been left too late.

But good news is most on here won't live to see it .... myself included hopefully

 

[InvictaMoto]

That may also answer the next poster Q as to why authorities do not send one of the 'wardens(who they have sitting around on pay + pension).

In Kent we have either PCSO or Community Wardens who are employed for a variety of reasons, one of which is to "police" areas such as car parks and public open spaces as well as replacing the dog wardens and park keepers etc...

Don't other areas of the UK also have these people fully employed as part of the council staff?

 

[jumartoo]

I have done my volunteering by not having kids............or dogs

We're the same, but now we need to spend, spend, spend, at the right velocity to see us out.

It's very difficult

 

[buntyb]

Dumfries & Galloway is awash with campra sites, forestry stay the night sites, small community run caravan sites or even big club and independent sites. There’s plenty for everyone, even for the self entitled. If they’re asking you not to use certain spots then why would you?

 

[jumartoo]

Dumfries & Galloway is awash with campra sites, forestry stay the night sites, small community run caravan sites or even big club and independent sites. There’s plenty for everyone, even for the self entitled. If they’re asking you not to use certain spots then why would you?

'Cos there! free innit

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[Northernraider]

Dumfries & Galloway is awash with campra sites, forestry stay the night sites, small community run caravan sites or even big club and independent sites. There’s plenty for everyone, even for the self entitled. If they’re asking you not to use certain spots then why would you?

Probably because all the other ones are charging.

Campra did more harm than good.

Free parkups everywhere in Scotland campra decided to contact councils asking for aires and suggesting a £10-15 per night charge. Councils rubbed their hands together and imposed overnight charges for a carpark with no facilities.

The folk who ignore them most likely used those free park ups before they became charged.

I know that many of my free parkups I used in Fife for well over 20 years now have a £10 per night charged thanks to Campra.

I refuse to pay that so I'll still find free spots.


Generally I don't park where there's signs saying not to . But there's many signs in Scotland that are illegal.

I'm wondering when they're going to start charging cyclists to use the roads or cycle paths etc.
I'm tired of campers being seen as cash cows because they assume every owner is a wealthy retired pensioner.

 

[Northernraider]

'Cos the're! free innit

Exactly. And long may they continue .

 

[jumartoo]

We "DID" scotland many times in the 1990's. First with a bike and tent, and then with our Leisuredrive campervan. We had some great times, no one else was around!

We were driving Applecross, heading one way, can't remember which way we were going, and the only vehicle we met, coming towards us, was ... another same Leisuredrive campervan. We stopped to speak. Well you have to don't you.

A few years later (sometime after March 2003) we pulled onto a campsite in Moffat. The van that pulled in next to us was the very same Spanish registered (Brit owned) Moncayo as we'd got.

The chances of that ???

Anyway. The free and easy days of motorhoming in Scotland, as in most places, are long gone.

Free, is still available. The easy part isn't so easy nowadays.

 

[Dolmen]

Campra did more harm than good.

Is that the generally held view? I had always thought they were part of the mix, wildcamp, pub stops, campsites, CL's etc. Haven't really used them so not qualified to comment, however, I have never heard that they are a harmful force within the motorhome community before. Do most members boycott there sites?

 

[bigtree]

The daily nc500 whinge in the sun
Lot of locals complaining again .

'Block them in', cry NC500 locals as 'freeloader' tourists take up parking spots

NC500 locals have slammed “freeloaders” for taking up parking spots along the route. With an impressive 516-mile stretch of magnificent coastal views, it’s not surprising the road trip …

www.thescottishsun.co.uk

Have a read of my next thread.

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