Stopping (day or night)

[TonyJones]

I've set up this section on the Forums to group together all the threads which relate to daytime parking, overnighting, "motorhome-friendly/unfriendly" towns, and so on.
I'll move the relevant recent threads (mainly from "Talk") straight away, but if you spot an older thread which should be here, add a post at the end to say so. That'll "bump" it up to the front page and I'll move it when I see it there.

 

[gjh]

Thanks Tony.

 

[sambukashot]

Much neater

 

[JohnThompson]

Also
http://www.tmcto.org/index.php/motorhome-parking-uk

 

[TonyJones]

Thanks John! So this single thread now includes links to the two best sources of nationwide info on the subject - Graham's (above) and now Keith's.
With those two websites, plus Britstops and OF COURSE PMH Nightstops, we're equipped to go anywhere - or at least to know where we can't!

 

[katetaylor1]

Hi Tony and all our forum friends,
Please welcome our 40th motorhome-friendly Nightstop! It's The Highlander Inn, near Newcastle, and there's a news story on this website. Hope you find it useful! Kate

 

[katetaylor1]

Sadly, did you see that Aberystwyth's South Promenade now has a ban on motorhomes staying overnight? http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/i/42790/

 

[gjh]

Sadly, did you see that Aberystwyth's South Promenade now has a ban on motorhomes staying overnight? http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/i/42790/

A pity but not a surprise.
I was, however, disappointed to see the assertion “Motorhome users spend a lot of money at shops and restaurants on the
seafront, so I think if overnight parking is banned a lot of these
businesses will suffer.” made once again with absolutely no firm evidence of its correctness.
Why didn't they say "we have spent £xxx whilst we've been here"? Real figures might give councils cause to think positively about providing stopover facilities.
Graham

 

[gjh]

Hi Tony and all our forum friends,
Please welcome our 40th motorhome-friendly Nightstop! It's The Highlander Inn, near Newcastle, and there's a news story on this website. Hope you find it useful! Kate

Very good news. Now that the uncertainty over member/non-member usage of Nightstops has been resolved I hope that more places will be encouraged to sign up rather than operate on the fringes of illegality.
We are looking forward to our first stay at a Nightstop (as opposed to a CL) in the next few days (The Hawthorne near Oldham).
Graham

 

[Kate Taylor]

We hope you like our new Nightstop listings on here and find it easier to use these very motorhome-friendly locations during your travels. We've made it easier for new potential Nightstops to sign up to the scheme, too. The MCC's application form can be downloaded right here! So if you meet any friendly landowners, farmers, publicans, hoteliers and so on who might like to get a CL licence allowing them to legally have up to five motorhomes staying on their land overnight, please send them this link! Many thanks.

http://www.practicalmotorhome.com/nightstops

 

[winterwanders]

apparently Sidmouth in south Devon has banned ALL vans from their car parks as from last week that is 18th February.

 

[rayjsj]

apparently Sidmouth in south Devon has banned ALL vans from their car parks as from last week that is 18th February.

Evidently not. http://www.tmcto.org/index.php/component/gmapfp/792-manor-road-sidmouth?view=gmapfp

still one at least.

 

[TonyJones]

Andy, have you got any recent references about this?
Keith's website (which Ray quoted above) is usually accurate, but if the local authority have recently changed something he may not have caught up yet.
Really bad news - FOR THEM - if Sidmouth don't want us at all, day or night. We'll all have to spend our money somewhere else!

 

[gjh]

Sidmouth Town Council web site lists car parks but, apart from one which is privately owned, they are all run by East Devon District Council, not the Town Council.

According to East Devon District Council, Manor Road car park can still be used for motorhome parking between 8am and 10pm (as can certain car parks in other town in the district). That information is on the Designated Car Parks page and on the map accessible via the man parking page (see links Here to those pages).

Graham

 

[Kate Taylor]

Rik Whittaker of the Motor Caravanners' Club, our Nightstop Scheme partner, has just got back from an enjoyable stay at The Tipple Inn, near Andover. He stayed in his motorhome overnight for free, because he was buying his evening meals in the pub. I've written a quick blog to share his feedback on this motorhome-friendly pub and I hope you'll all feel encouraged to try out the Practical Motorhome/MCC Nightstop scheme!

 

[Willo8660]

Padstow has two dedicated motorhome bays. You can pay by the hour up to four hours then it jumps to twelve hours. So you can chose to park for 4 hours or to pay the deposit on one if rick steins pasties

 

[JohnThompson]

Andy, have you got any recent references about this?
Keith's website (which Ray quoted above) is usually accurate, but if the local authority have recently changed something he may not have caught up yet.
Really bad news - FOR THEM - if Sidmouth don't want us at all, day or night. We'll all have to spend our money somewhere else!

The TMCTO website was not being maintained by Keith. The other backers fell by the wayside and I was left to try to keep the site going. I did the work of contacting the authorities and sorting out the FOI issues. I was not able to keep the parking map information up to date on the website due to software issues which Keith was not willing or able to rectify. He was offered finance but refused it, only wanting the hosting fees from members. I was the only one doing any campaigning, so it was decided to close the site down. Keith still keeps the Facebook Group going but the organisation is no longer a campaigning organisation.

 

[TonyJones]

Thanks for the update John - and for all the work you've done on our behalf. Sorry to hear Keith has pulled out, but not much to be done about that.
Graham (see above) is still running his site. His approach is more about asking questions and publishing information, rather than campaigning, but lots of us find his site very helpful.

 

[gjh]

Just a minor comment Tony

There are rather more places where motorhomes can be parked during the day now than there were in August 2006. Campaigning quietly in the background often brings results I'm not just thinking of approaches that I have made, John also does a lot which achieves plenty without receiving blazing publicity

The "Softly, softly catchee monkey" approach has a lot going for it

Graham

 

[Ryan88]

Needing a little advice.
I am looking in too doing a small tour of Normandy (4-5 days)
Is it illegal to park up in laybys in France?
What other laws do the French have in regards to Motorhomes?

 

[TonyJones]

Hi Ryan, welcome!
It's certainly NOT illegal, but you really won't need to use laybys.
The law in France says that a motorhome ("camping-car") is a CAR, and can legally park (including overnight)anywhere a car can. But "parking" means just that - no furniture outside, no awning, no levelling ramps. Any of that is "camping," which local authorities can ban.
However, you'll rarely need to use even that amount of freedom, as most towns and villages have at least one "aire de service camping-cars." These are designated places where you can pitch up safely, often with water and waste facilities. Many are free, none are anything like the price of a UK campsite. You can buy books in France which list them all, or get "All the Aires France" in English, from Vicarious Books.
The one thing I wouldn't advise is staying overnight on motorway service areas. Nearly all the horror stories about break-ins etc happen on those.
So come on over and enjoy this lovely, motorhome-friendly, country!

 

[chirene]

In France you have no problem , as it is a very motorhome friendly country. Most towns/villages have AIRES , which are for Mh , some have electric , water and emptying facilities
In the super markets you can buy books which list these, but most are well signposted , You could buy ALL THe Aries book from Vicarious books in Folkestone, which is written in english, as opposed to the French ones.

SORRY, did not see Tonys reply