site fees

[oldagetraveller1]

Am I alone in thinking that site fees have become very expensive?
I am on a Camping Club site and as an 'age concession' I still pay over £15 per night! Prices are jacked up for half term, hitting families, just like a profit grabbing commercial enterprise. OK, the site is good, but for a members' club, it is becoming difficult to afford. And it's not as if the Club is poor - a glance at the accounts shows that it is very rich.
Who 'owns' the club anyway? Is it the members? How much are the senior staff paid? In theory, could a group of members sell it???
It's certainly not clear to me - can someone enlighten me?
C L's are also getting expensive. It's normal now to pay £10/15 per night. Not so long ago, it was £3/4 - or is my memory faulty?

 

[drsorento]

I think in general all fees are getting a bit expensive, I cant speak for club sites as I refuse to become a member. The commercial site fees are on the up with extras that they bolt on to the initial fees ie awinig, extra person(s), dog(s) second car etc. Why are they added? because they can.

I dont thimk it will be too long before we see the electric hook up on a coin operated meter.

Caravanning is no longer a cheap holiday anymore, with the price of fuel, extortionate road tax, and ever increasing site fees.

We still love it though.

 

[GrahamDerby]

You are correct site prices are certainly going up, and as was said its also the extras that top it up. I too can see the day when you will have a pound meter for electric. The fee for this is going up as caravans are now being fitted with more and more mains equipment. People are now using elec heating ,fridge, microwave , george forman grills and hot plates. Its the caravaners who use all of these that will force site owners to look again at electric charges . So with site fees going up , fuel going up and caravan prices going up , see Auto Sleepers new van, .where will it all end .

 

[Parksy]

The Camping and Caravanning Club have frozen site fees for next year although the v.a.t. increase will be added on. I agree though that site fees in general are becoming more expensive due to increased power consumption per pitch and rising demand.
The prices for families during school holidays is horrendous on some sites, we're lucky enough to be retired and we look on the internet for pitch bargains which can still be found.

 

[LMH]

It's not a cheap holiday anymore, particularly if you've got a newish van, have insurance, have it serviced anually, pay storage.

I've noticed even the CC is a bit pricey these days. We only use CL's these days if we take it off the place we currently use all year round.

Lisa

 

[oldagetraveller1]

Inte"resting comments. Does anyone have the ansaers to my question on how the 2 main clubs in UK operate? Who actually owns them? Could a group of members organise a carpet bagging excercise? How efficient are these 2 clubs? I get the impression - maybe unfair'ly- that they are overstaffed and inefficient. No real competition - a cosy cartel resulting in members paying far too much for sites and services

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

The costs all depend on the time of the year. We've just spent a week at Norwich C&CC site and with the age concession and seven nights for the price of five it cost us £58. This at the time of shorter days and colder nights when people use more electric. I'm not complaining at just over £8 pn. Swings and roundabouts I suppose if you use your van most of the year instead of just summer.
Regarding CLs charging highish fees I have no complaint about that as long as the site is nice and I get value for money without being ripped off. One CL I used at Kidlington was expensive. There was no shower, the service points were basic but it did have EHU. I didn't mind though because the location, solitude and the amount of space made it worth it.

 

[OmOnWeelz]

I seem to remember chips @ 6pen'th a throw and petrol at under 10 bob a gallon or have I been dreaming

 

[DavidKlyne]

Inte"resting comments. Does anyone have the ansaers to my question on how the 2 main clubs in UK operate? Who actually owns them? Could a group of members organise a carpet bagging excercise? How efficient are these 2 clubs? I get the impression - maybe unfair'ly- that they are overstaffed and inefficient. No real competition - a cosy cartel resulting in members paying far too much for sites and services

You make a lot of claims but provide no evidence to back them up. As a member you are entitled to attend the Club AGM, at least you can if you are a member of the Caravan Club, I am sure it must be the same for the C&CC. Pitch fees are higher at peak times in order to subsidise the quieter times. If they kept the fees the same all year there would just be a general loss of revenue which would mean there would be a lot less money to invest in new Club sites. As far as how the Clubs are run, again I am only familiar with the Caravan Club but the managing structure seems to be split between and an elected Council and Professionals who manage and advise, a bit like a local authority without the politics!

David

 

[trickydicky]

An increase in site fees of say £1/night fees is only a small part of the overall cost of caravanning as LMH says.For example if you buy a new van,and spend 50 nights away then the cost could be
Depreciation £3000,Storage £350,Insurance £250,Service £250,Diesel £300,Site Fees £750,Additional Spending £300.This comes to £5200 for the year,at an average of £104/night away.
Some may spend more than this,some a lot less,but it puts a perspective on the overall situation.
I think both the CC and CCC give good value for money,nobody has to join,its voluntary.As for electric,then I dont think that vans with all the gizmos are the reason for an increase in site fees.If the supply is 12 amps then it doesn't matter how many electrical items are in the van,you can only use up to that available current. An electric meter would be fairer,then your'e charged for what is used.
Cheers Richard

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

We've just spent a week at Norwich C&CC site and with the age concession and seven nights for the price of five it cost us £58.

Turncoat.....!!!

So you've joined the C&CC again, Lord B??!!!

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

We've just spent a week at Norwich C&CC site and with the age concession and seven nights for the price of five it cost us £58.

Turncoat.....!!!

So you've joined the C&CC again, Lord B??!!!

LMAO Wendy

To be honest I thought after 5 years I'd give them another chance to see if things had improved.
I won't go into too much detail because I don't want war to break out

but just let's just say that Norwich is a site screaming out for improvement/modernisation.
It does have noise like rail tracks north AND south of the site, three cockerels who shout to each other all night and a constant hum from the busy A146 nearby but I'll suffer that for £58.
Take away the noise and you would think you were in the countryside with a small wood and a river running alongside where the dog walk is. Nice wardens though

After Norwich we went to Orchard Park at Boston and we were charged £105, almost double Norwich, but the facilities were a vast improvement with lakes where you can walk the dogs, water to each pitch and large individual unisex shower cubicles with wash basin and toilet. Also a cafe/restaurant on site with a site bar across the road. Fishing is £15 pw and I'm told by others is very good.
Every morning a couple used a shower cubicle together and I timed it to perfection, going the same time as them. Try as I might I couldn't hear what they were saying though despite standing on the chair to grab an earful ... heh! heh! heh! They sure were in there a long time though, I used my stop watch

 

[oldagetraveller1]

Getting back to the basic questions. Who actually owns these very rich clubs? Are they efficiently run or simply a cosy cartel with us, its members, paying excessive costs for services? No-one seems to know. What are the risks of a few 'insiders' somehow managing to sell them off and pocket millions? Surely, there are safeguards?
Perhaps someone like Easyjet could start up in competition - basic, highly efficient camping services at rock bottom prices.
The way things are going now, it will soon be only the rich who can afford Camping Club and Caravan club sites.

 

[kopite]

Hi all hope your all well.It`s the end of my first year in van so i dont no how much it used to cost but having stayed on 7/8 cc sites this year i,ve been more than impressed with the sites there so clean and tidy.So my point is you pay for what you get and cheap pitches cheap people so i`m happy being with you lot as your not cheep.

 

[Parksy]

Getting back to the basic questions. Who actually owns these very rich clubs? Are they efficiently run or simply a cosy cartel with us, its members, paying excessive costs for services? No-one seems to know. What are the risks of a few 'insiders' somehow managing to sell them off and pocket millions? Surely, there are safeguards?
Perhaps someone like Easyjet could start up in competition - basic, highly efficient camping services at rock bottom prices.
The way things are going now, it will soon be only the rich who can afford Camping Club and Caravan club sites.

The C&CC hold elections for comittee members at d.a. level at the agm for that d.a, advertised in 'out and about' and the candidates for the National Council are also elected by members. The National AGM took place on 24 October and one would suppose that this would be a good place to start if you really want answers straight from the horses mouth.
The C&CC publish their articles of association which they are required to do by law

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/aboutus/legal/
A C&CC member asked in a readers letter to the club magazine why prices were so high during school holidays and the reply went along the lines of the holiday prices being the norm but reduced at less busy times to encourage demand.
Mainstream sites can be expensive but we noticed that in mid or low season the prices can be comparable with those in nearby certified sites and Temporary Holiday Sites are always good value.

 

[Steve L]

Site fee's are on the way up, but arguably in line with most accomodation fee's.

As with any business, the powers that be jump on the bandwaggon of charge for extras. We can already see metered electric which in my case has proven cheaper than day rate electric as the law dictates that the site owner can not charge more than his/her purchased unit rate when providing the power to a third party (us).

As a lot of you know I'm a fulltimer and I have chosen a seasonal pitch for 10 months based on location and amenities on that site including the electric meter. We then use a fixed price site for Jan & Feb where the lecie is day rated. This is a good choice as we need more fan heaters at that time of the year. We do find it hard to find sites open all year which limit's choice too.

As for the other extras, for dogs, awnings, cars, people, I just vote with my tow hitch and find another site instead. Quite often you can find a good value site just a couple of miles inland from the seaside or likewise from popular inland locations.
Like everything else in the world you pay's your money and take's your choice.

 

[ChrisUK]

We have just had a week at a CL with 16A hookup, free WiFi and a mini toilet/shower facility in Norfolk for £10/n (Barleywood) and 5 days at a CL in Suffolk with a 10 A hookup and water hookup for £9 (Wildemere), great value and nice sites (Particulary for bird watchers). We avoid caravan club sites like the plague, we have a modern van with all facilities so why pay for fancy toilet blocks.

 

[oldagetraveller1]

As you say, that's good value. But I have very recently been charged £15 per night at a CL for extremely basic facilities.
But - getting back to the original question - I'm surprised that no-one has an immediate answer to 'who owns the very rich CC&CC clubs'. Who controls how much they pay themselves? Are we, the members, being duped?
I thought I was the only one who didn't understand all the small print but it now seems that I am just like everyone else. These 2 big wealthy clubs seem to be a law unto themselves, trading in a cosy cartel of almost identical pricing. I was naive enough to think that these clubs were 'run by members - for members.' All profits to go towards keeping prices down. Seems as if I might be wrong??

 

[Heethers]

Just looked at a CL at Matlock, they want 15 quid a night, maybe its because they know they will incur heavy electrical demand during the winter period, their's a lot winter caravaning now. The wife and l will be after laying out 20k for the van thats got everything to see you through cold weather, looking forward to this winter but are concered of the increase in site fee's.
NigelH

 

[Oldsalt49]

When I had my caravan serviced last week. The lady in their office told me that Sandy Balls site on the edge of the New Forest was charging £50 a night. I nearly fell on the floor!!! Fair enough that must be the cost per night at peak season, but what can they be offering that justifies a price like that?????

 

[Philspadders]

im always amazed at folks attitudes towards the costs of their hobbies.

For instance i fly model aircraft, some of which cost many hundreds of pounds, yet every year national body membership renewal time and club renewal time, they start to complain about paying £20.0 per year for insurance and £50.0 for club membership fees.

They will complain very strongly about the costs yet go an buy a model that could cost £1000,00 requires insurance and a club to fly at.

The same goes for caravanning. One poster has spent £20k on a caravan, has probably spent the same on a towing vehicle and then complain about paying £15 for a pitch.

Gets me everytime.