Campervans off grid issues?

[Mandarin]

Not really sure how to approach this, which I suspect is a nationwide issue.

Public toilets in north Norfolk 'swamped' by campervan waste

Public toilets at a north Norfolk tourist hotspot have been "swamped" by waste from people using campervans, a council meeting has heard.

www.northnorfolknews.co.uk

1) should the councils provide more disposal facilities (if so why should I as a N. Norfolk ratepayer pay for these).
2) should campervans be restricted from these areas (most car parks in North Norfolk seems to have had the height restriction removed).

As a caravan owner I am somewhat biased as we always book a site, dispose of waste on site and pay our way.

Sadly a minority of campervan owners seem to be damaging the reputation of the majority.

 

[Len W]

Not really sure how to approach this, which I suspect is a nationwide issue.

Public toilets in north Norfolk 'swamped' by campervan waste

Public toilets at a north Norfolk tourist hotspot have been "swamped" by waste from people using campervans, a council meeting has heard.

www.northnorfolknews.co.uk

1) should the councils provide more disposal facilities (if so why should I as a N. Norfolk ratepayer pay for these).
2) should campervans be restricted from these areas (most car parks in North Norfolk seems to have had the height restriction removed).

As a caravan owner I am somewhat biased as we always book a site, dispose of waste on site and pay our way.

Sadly a minority of campervan owners seem to be damaging the reputation of the majority.

Unfortunately this is happening all around the country, motorhomes turning up in the most inappropriate places. I do think that it is a general public wide misunderstanding of what is acceptable. The term Wild Camping seems to be the excuse given, but not when you're blocking the entrance to a public carpark, or as happened recently parking in a farm lane stopping people from going about their business.
Saw a lot of people wild camping on a recent trip to Ullapool Scotland. We were always told to take it home with you, bit difficult when you factor in the chem toilet?

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Wild camping is done with tents and practiced by hikers and cyclists. The only thing they tend to take away are memories and they leave behind footprints.
What the campervanners/motorhomers class as wild camping is dirty camping or freeloading. They spend many thousands of pounds buying their vehicles then begrudge paying for a
site.
We're all entitled to an opinion and that's mine!

 

[Hutch]

My son, 35 years old hired a motor home for a wild camping tour of Devon and Cornwall, he soon realised that picking up water and dropping waste was not easy, but he was happy to pay £5 in campsites to "pop in" and drop and pick up water. It made his touring easier.

 

[Buckman]

Could never understand the mentality of spending tens of thousands on an outfit so that you can freeload and muck up the countryside and town parks?

 

[Beehpee]

In my opinion people who wild camp and dispose of waste in public locations are as disgusting as the filth left behind by gypsies/or insert any name for these filthy freeloaders that you wish.

BP

 

[Beehpee]

Could these lowlife people not be fined for fly tipping?

BP

 

[Guzzilazz]

When visiting the Algarve it was a big surprise to find some retail parks with motorhome waste disposal/water points... But unlike Cornwall they care about their tourists!

 

[Sam Vimes]

This is a very contentious issue where we live and there is so much I could say about it but its all been said before. Just to say that a few minority individuals give the rest a bad name.

Just 5 days ago a french car pulled up in a passing place about a hundred metres from where we live. I just happened to look out of the window to see the guy walking further down the road so I was curious as I suspected what he was going to do. Sure enough he squats down and does number twos. Unfortunately I couldn't get my camera out in time but others here have caught similar acts on CCTV.

He then came back and they sat around having their breakfast.

Public toilets are just a couple of miles away in the next village.

When we had a motorhome we seldom 'wild camped' - mostly on journeys to somewhere else - but we always kept it to no more than 2 days before going to a site to dump the waste stuff.

 

[Raywood]

To me wild camping is in tents. Motor home drivers cannot do this and if they can afford the vehicle then they should be able to manage at least a basic site. Their habit of freeloading is anti social and brings the use of these vehicles into disrepute. Those dumping waste should be prosecuted, although I do appreciate the difficulty the authorities have in doing this.

 

[Buckman]

Could these lowlife people not be fined for fly tipping?
BP

Unfortunately it is not just lowlifes that fly tip!

Public toilets are just a couple of miles away in the next village.

Due to issues down under I carry a suitable container just in case of an emergency if we do not have the caravan in tow.

 

[Sam Vimes]

This is a worldwide problem. Our family in the South Island of New Zealand have just the same problems with 'Freedom Campers'. Restrictions have been put in place over the last few years but enforcement is another issue.

Here in the Highlands the council has closed many public conveniences so they must share some of the blame but ultimately its those that don't care that get the rest a bad name. We were approached by the council to open our community hall toilets to the public but the grant given to us was not sufficient to cover the cost of cleaning and maintainence - even if we could find someone to do it.

Some community halls do manage to do so and good on them. They usually have donation boxes but I'm not sure how much they collect.

To be fair the council has put in some conveniences - pay by contactless card - and additional car parking at the tourist hot spots. Regretably it means that residents now have to pay for parking.

 

[Len W]

I understand the attraction of cruising and being able to stop wherever and put your feet up, but people need to know that they should leave it as they find it and not ruin the place for the next van homer coming along. Also some places are just not convenience Sorry

 

[Mandarin]

The challenge seems to be that even when public conveniences are open people are swamping them by dumping campervan toilet waste into them.

Near us a free car park is being filled with very expensive campervans every night and the public toilet septic tanks swamped.

 

[Sam Vimes]

There's another issue here that may well be 'fake news'. Rumours are going around that fuel may be limited to campervans as the large numbers appearing over the last few weeks are putting too much demand on the filling stations and causing problems for residents.

Not sure how it would be implemented though.

 

[otherclive]

There's another issue here that may well be 'fake news'. Rumours are going around that fuel may be limited to campervans as the large numbers appearing over the last few weeks are putting too much demand on the filling stations and causing problems for residents.

Not sure how it would be implemented though.

They could take a similar approach to a garage near to Bourton on the Water...."No HGV and Coaches

 

[Buckman]

Some community halls do manage to do so and good on them. They usually have donation boxes but I'm not sure how much they collect.

To be fair the council has put in some conveniences - pay by contactless card - and additional car parking at the tourist hot spots. Regretably it means that residents now have to pay for parking.

I have no objection to paying to use the facilities, but many in England still require coinage and not contactless payment so people carry on using the bushes as sometimes you have got the money, but not the correct coin.

 

[Mandarin]

There's another rumour circulating that dealers are reluctant to take in px motorhomes as the markets swamped and lockdown buyers are becoming jaded with the lifestyle.

However there was also a rumour last year that the caravan market was about to collapse, however ours is now apparently worth considerable more now than when we bought it last spring (based on asking prices).

Time will tell which are correct.

 

[Buckman]

There's another rumour circulating that dealers are reluctant to take in px motorhomes as the markets swamped and lockdown buyers are becoming jaded with the lifestyle.

However there was also a rumour last year that the caravan market was about to collapse, however ours is now apparently worth considerable more now than when we bought it last spring (based on asking prices).

Time will tell which are correct.

This is the first summer that people have gone en masse overseas. My guess is that in Oct / Nov many people will be trying to sell their caravans probably at a high price, but as it becomes a buyer's market prices will start to fall by next year.

 

[otherclive]

This is the first summer that people have gone en masse overseas. My guess is that in Oct / Nov many people will be trying to sell their caravans probably at a high price, but as it becomes a buyer's market prices will start to fall by next year.

I think you are spot on. Used car prices are now dropping. One of our local dealerships have had Toyota C-HR since last October sat on their forecourt and have just reduced the asking price by £1000. I will never understand the economics of the motor sales businesses. Forecourts are packed full of high capital products yet a general reluctance to entice buyers by offering attractive deals.I might be looking for new wheels soon as rumours are that Subaru will be doing a Mitsubishi/Daihatsu and with only 0.07% of the UK sales market its not surprising

 

[Raywood]

I think the problems with the economy will be starting to hit and prices will fall. Not heard anything about Subaru but their market share is incredibly low and if things are tight they may find this country just not profitable enough, or possibly unprofitable.
Highland Council are looking to have provision for motorhomes getting an overnight stay on some of their car parks next year, which should help the problem as they will have the facilities needed.

 

[Buckman]

Cannot remember where I saw it, but apparently they have had difficulty shifting 2021 models and they are stockpiled somewhere. Not sure if it was here or elsewhere. However when you cross over the Avon bridge on the M5 the parking lots for cars at Portishead are empty. Normally it is chock a bloc!