# Dumfries & Galloway



## campervanannie

This was posted on Facebook today 


After being made aware by one of the Galloway Forrest wardens that there is to be no more wildcamping by motorised vehicles, here is the email I received back from Keith Muir, head of visitor services at Galloway Forrest.


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## saxonrosie

Do wish they would use plain English a bit more, I’m sure Mr Muir doesn’t speak like that .


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## Debroos

So presumably he is saying that even as a responsible motorhomer we still can't overnight?
Together with the post on the pspo thingy in Rye it's all getting very depressing...


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## caledonia

Parked on the Raider Road loads of times and had no problems with the rangers. The Otter Pool does get busy and used by the Buckfast Brigade.


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## m30

I wonder who is going to enforce it? they're gunna have to come and check either very late at night or early in the morning otherwise you could say you have just arrived. Hopefully its just going to give them another option to use to move unwanted vehicles on, and anybody parked responsibly will be left alone.
We tend to use the 7 stanes mountain biking car parks, and the guy who is in charge of the 7 stanes regularly comes round and has a chat, never mentions anything about whether we can or cannot stay over, as long as we pay the £3 he doesn't seem to care.

Stu


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## caledonia

How can they promote thier Dark Sky Park but not let you park overnight to view it?


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## campervanannie

caledonia said:


> How can they promote thier Dark Sky Park but not let you park overnight to view it?



Maybe that question should be put to Mr Muir.


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## sak

All people who disrespect the countryside, or anywhere else,  should have their vehicle confiscated and be given a huge fine, should you even be allowed to have a driving licence if you don't understand do not leave litter, no fires, leave no trace etc.


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## christine

That is a real blow, we have stayed overnight a few times on the Raiders Road. It was very convenient and reassuring to know we had somewhere to stop when in this area. We have never seen any trouble either but then we travel out of main season on the whole.


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## antiquesam

Could it have anything to do with the fact there are plans to build luxury lodges in the forest perhaps?


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## christine

Oh no, didn't know that.


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## Deleted member 48528

This is such a shame, the Galloway forest is our favourite place in Scotland, the Otter pool is a magical spot, we had it to ourselves one night, quite special. Another nail in the coffin :mad1:


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## Nabsim

Are they actually saying you can't do it? I see it says that mh's and camper vans aren't wild camping and staying in car parks is discouraged but does it actually say you can't? It a bit small for me to read on my screen so apologies if I have missed it.

If they are saying that I may try an email myself


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## Deleted member 71750

The way I read that is that you are allowed to park up overnight as long as you are not sleeping in the van, ie. it would be fine to park your van overnight if you were sleeping in a tent outside it ??. Seems a bit mad to me though I do see the point they are making.


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## caledonia

The rangers I have met seem fairly switched on and I’m sure if you are parked sensibly they will turn a blind eye. It’s the groups of big white motorhomes gathed like sheep at the most popular tourist spots that p1sses people off.


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## Nabsim

Must say the litter in certain areas is big problem, it annoys me to see it and makes you wonder how some people think. Going from Gretna towards Stranraer a couple of weeks ago was really bad for 15 or 20 miles. Must be heartbreaking for people living nearby to have to see it every day


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## campervanannie

There is a program on BBC2 tonight at 8pm about the Galloway forest might be interesting.


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## gordy

*Ae Village.*

There's a Downhill dirt bike event on this weekend at Ae Village so you may be able to stay overnight in the designated area on side of woods, with Toilets too boot...


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## reiverlad

Not all bad news in D & G

There is now some dedicated parking for motoromes in Glencaple - see attached

Motorhomes in Caerlaverock - Caerlaverock Community Association


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## 2cv

reiverlad said:


> Not all bad news in D & G
> 
> There is now some dedicated parking for motoromes in Glencaple - see attached
> 
> Motorhomes in Caerlaverock - Caerlaverock Community Association



That's a lovely spot, and great to see such a welcoming attitude towards motorhomes. I suspect that the secondary parking will be very well used.


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## Nabsim

reiverlad said:


> Not all bad news in D & G
> 
> There is now some dedicated parking for motoromes in Glencaple - see attached
> 
> Motorhomes in Caerlaverock - Caerlaverock Community Association



I had a chuckle at his bit 'i.e. nae emptyin’ yer cludgie!', thanks for the link, the mh is going to open up areas we have not yet visited I can see


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## maingate

This overnight spot is currently being discussed on Motorhomefun, so I think you will have to join a queue and wait your turn for a spot.  That's the trouble with t'internet, too many pairs of eyes, not enough places.


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## mistericeman

maingate said:


> This overnight spot is currently being discussed on Motorhomefun, so I think you will have to join a queue and wait your turn for a spot.  That's the trouble with t'internet, too many pairs of eyes, not enough places.



A problem that seems to be getting worse and worse


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## runnach

mistericeman said:


> A problem that seems to be getting worse and worse


 it is that. lots of fb sites ,and websites some have even stolen the POI's here as more spots become off limits acute pressure is applied to those that still exist.

Larger numbers of people wilding, and with that larger percentage of irresponsible then old story the few spoil it 

You know yourself with the Landie clubs, legitimate off roading last few years has become harder same happening to this pastime

Channa


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## mistericeman

channa said:


> it is that. lots of fb sites ,and websites some have even stolen the POI's here as more spots become off limits acute pressure is applied to those that still exist.
> 
> Larger numbers of people wilding, and with that larger percentage of irresponsible then old story the few spoil it
> 
> You know yourself with the Landie clubs, legitimate off roading last few years has become harder same happening to this pastime
> 
> Channa



Spot on Andrew.... I've drawn the comparison many times and it seems as time goes on its proving more and more true. 
The days of both pass times being the preserve of a small die hard number are long gone.... 
Routes/orpas/rupps/boats and wild camping spots being plastered all over the net have ensured many have been closed/lost/prohibited Forcing larger numbers into a decreasing pool of resources.... 

Won't be long now for either pass time way things are going sadly.


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## 2cv

I find that there are still plenty of suitable spots to be had. The most worrying threat to wilding in a van I think is the misuse of pspo's to effect blanket bans over large areas.


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## mistericeman

2cv said:


> I find that there are still plenty of suitable spots to be had. The most worrying threat to wilding in a van I think is the misuse of pspo's to effect blanket bans over large areas.



Agreed there are lots of Wilding spots left... At the moment BUT I personally think the, biggest threat is the, sharing of them on social media


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## Nabsim

It’s sad if the popularity causes a decline, you would have hoped it would prompt some enterprising folks to offer spots to stop, low cost but rising scale for different facilities.

I take it the powers that be make it hard to set something like that up if you have a bit of land?


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## runnach

Nabsim said:


> It’s sad if the popularity causes a decline, you would have hoped it would prompt some enterprising folks to offer spots to stop, low cost but rising scale for different facilities.
> 
> I take it the powers that be make it hard to set something like that up if you have a bit of land?


 Planning permission and caravan development act for starters, John Thompson once quoted figures re installing drainage/ tanks/ehu non of it comes cheap....We as a pastime tend to hound councils for obvious reasons and a few have been a tad more enterprising,,,,My own thoughts is the manufactuers are a good port of call who will buy their products if you cant use them Brownhills already do this.

In your county for example around Castleton it is possible to wildcamp but not easy standard answer from a council is you want water disposal etc when Losehill Hall is down the road therefore no need another site that way too near Bamford...stock answer.Provision exists. Realistically when Derbyshire CC are cutting every budget under the sun closing libraries which effect council tax payers and involve a wider community appeasing wild campers comes well down the list 

Channa


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## Nabsim

Yes I wasn’t thinking of council provision more private or commercial. I know last I looked our septic tank was about £35k to replace, that serves 10 cottages but only needs emptying every 2 or 3 years. I know regs have just changed regarding tanks though so could now be more.

There are lots of camp sites around here but I was thinking more stopovers than a camp site with nominal charge but then fill up and/or empty tanks at an extra charge. Because there are a lot of camp sites I don’t think ehu would be needed as folks could book a night on a site if they needed everything.

Would it me the same conditions as a caravan park for someth8ng like that?


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## runnach

Nabsim said:


> Yes I wasn’t thinking of council provision more private or commercial. I know last I looked our septic tank was about £35k to replace, that serves 10 cottages but only needs emptying every 2 or 3 years. I know regs have just changed regarding tanks though so could now be more.
> 
> There are lots of camp sites around here but I was thinking more stopovers than a camp site with nominal charge but then fill up and/or empty tanks at an extra charge. Because there are a lot of camp sites I don’t think ehu would be needed as folks could book a night on a site if they needed everything.
> 
> Would it me the same conditions as a caravan park for someth8ng like that?



Simple terms yes, The caravan development Act applies from memory 28 days no more than 5 vans (might be wrong on that bit) When this site holds official meets the site uses an exemption certificate which gets round numbers but is why meets are only open to members and not non members .It is nothing to do with elitism it is more to do with dotting Is and crossing Ts ....Other meets are private meets where quite frankly we are flying by the seat of our pants. For general stop overs eg cls c/s affiliation to the big clubs is required you are guessing it is complicated

A good example is for years a pub at Bugsworth basin was used for informal meets ignoring licensing rules for a second it seems locals complained so that is a venue lost headoffices like Sam Smiths mentioned recently don't want anything to do with wild camping I suspect totally on economic grounds the administration legal complexity far outweighs any return 

As regards sites Parkdean etc whilst offering camping to tourers their maincore business is selling statics then selling more statics that is reflected sometimes in facilities

Local authorities like a rash on them too at present particularly North Wales and Skegness

What should be straightforward and easy sadly isn't hoops to jump through before you start and that ignores traffic impact , waste collection or lack of

Channa


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## antiquesam

We surely don't need facilities, just the right to park within shouting distance of a town for a fixed number of nights. I for one am finding myself looking more and more at C&CC temporary sites and cheap CLs with just occasional wildng nights.


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## runnach

antiquesam said:


> We surely don't need facilities, just the right to park within shouting distance of a town for a fixed number of nights. I for one am finding myself looking more and more at C&CC temporary sites and cheap CLs with just occasional wildng nights.


 Which is exactly the provisons made local authorities are talking about when they don't see need to invest in aire type arrangements 

Channa


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## Thebroons

reiverlad said:


> Not all bad news in D & G
> 
> There is now some dedicated parking for motoromes in Glencaple - see attached
> 
> Motorhomes in Caerlaverock - Caerlaverock Community Association




For info anyone wanting to empty their grey waste at Caerlaverock corner will need a bucket / container as the drain is on a raised level and too far from the parking area for an extended pipe.


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