CCC SERVICE STOP OFF POINTS

[Fisherman]

I thought this was worth highlighting.
The CCC now have 50 sites where members can gain access to sites for up to 3 hours to empty their cassettes, grey water, fill their water tanks, and take a shower. The cost is only £7.95 (the link shows £7.65 but this will increase this spring) The link lists these sites, and gives a map showing their locations. If only the other lot would do the same as them things would be a lot better. I reckon this is a real bargain if you are a member. I have bookmarked this link.

Service Stop-Off Points - The Camping and Caravanning Club

Are you making a long journey and need somewhere to fill up your water, freshen up and take a break? A number of our Club Sites offer Service Stop-Off Points.

www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk

 

[number14]

Have used this excellent service. Just be mindful to phone ahead and not rock up when the wardens (site managers?) are busy; eg 1pm arrivals time.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

And when we used it last year you had to be a member, it should be open to the public as it would ease the burden on campers emptying in hedges etc.

 

[GeoffL]

We've also used these extensively -- particularly the one nearest home as that lets us pump and dump before putting the van back into storage. As mentioned above, it's a good idea to phone ahead. FWIW, one site we used didn't know that the CCC website said they offered service stops and it took a day for them to check and confirm!

 

[Fisherman]

And when we used it last year you had to be a member, it should be open to the public as it would ease the burden on campers emptying in hedges etc.

I agree Kev but not at the same price.
After all Kev we pay an annual fee to get access at this price.
But the problem would be handling demand, they would also have to give preference to what limited access there is to members. But if you are over 60 and a member you get ACR status giving you further reduced costs when booking their sites. These savings alone more than pay the annual digital membership which has just gone up to £53 a year. (Paper membership £58)
At least the CCC do this for their members, more than can be said for the C&MC.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I agree Kev but not at the same price.
After all Kev we pay an annual fee to get access at this price.
But the problem would be handling demand, they would also have to give preference to what limited access there is to members. But if you are over 60 and a member you get ACR status giving you further reduced costs when booking their sites. These savings alone more than pay the annual digital membership which has just gone up to £53 a year. (Paper membership £58)
At least the CCC do this for their members, more than can be said for the C&MC.

I think £8 for none members is about enough to pay for a tank full of water, emptying the black and grey and a couple of showers, maybe £10 but any more and I think some will just not bother, it has to be tempting enough and widely know enough, and it should be all campsite except maybe CLs as they don't make much, for us we might need to use one twice a week, but the little VW sized ones perhaps every day, TBH I'm not sure how they can go more than a day anyway in such small vans.

Maybe councils should be looking at this and making all sites supply the servicing of anyone needing it, it would go a long way towards stopping indiscriminate dumping, not much you can do about in car campers and tenters who wild camp which is how we started, and the only time we used any sites.

 

[alwaysared]

There's three sites in the Algarve that offer the use of their services and charge 4.50€, no membership required. I wonder if the UK will ever wake up to motorhomes? I doubt it and that's why people spend their money in France, Spain and Portugal

Kind regards,
Del

 

[Pudsey Bear]

The GB population very different to the rest of the world, we seem historically to see and think differently, maybe that's why we owned so much of it, the Spaniards were similar.

 

[Fisherman]

I think £8 for none members is about enough to pay for a tank full of water, emptying the black and grey and a couple of showers, maybe £10 but any more and I think some will just not bother, it has to be tempting enough and widely know enough, and it should be all campsite except maybe CLs as they don't make much, for us we might need to use one twice a week, but the little VW sized ones perhaps every day, TBH I'm not sure how they can go more than a day anyway in such small vans.

Maybe councils should be looking at this and making all sites supply the servicing of anyone needing it, it would go a long way towards stopping indiscriminate dumping, not much you can do about in car campers and tenters who wild camp which is how we started, and the only time we used any sites.

I don’t reckon the CCC would be interested in tempting anyone Kev. And if they unilaterally did this I don’t reckon they could cope with the demand.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I don’t reckon the CCC would be interested in tempting anyone Kev. And if they unilaterally did this I don’t reckon they could cope with the demand.

Possibly, but if it was done unilaterally then it would also spread the load (sorry) across the whole country.

 

[izwozral]

I'm with Puds on this.
Besides, both the main clubs have the word caravan in the title.
Shudder.

 

[mark61]

Very much in favour of sites opening up their services for a fee, but not so sure I'd be in favour of councils making sites do this. That requires a lot more thinking about.

 

[barryd]

There's three sites in the Algarve that offer the use of their services and charge 4.50€, no membership required. I wonder if the UK will ever wake up to motorhomes? I doubt it and that's why people spend their money in France, Spain and Portugal

Kind regards,
Del

That seems reasonable. Ive seen Service points outside or near the entrance to campsites in mainland Europe that are open for all. Some sites in France even have Aires attached to them. All sites should offer this here (forget about the showers). People are going to wild camp no matter what so you may as well make a fiver off them for emptying the loo and a bit of water. Win win IMO.

 

[liz]

And when we used it last year you had to be a member, it should be open to the public as it would ease the burden on campers emptying in hedges etc.

If open to the public ,then is it fare for people paying £40 a night to wait for a shower ,fill up, empty etc .it's a hard one but an amazing idea and we are members but I have passed on to friends .Thankyou

 

[mark61]

That seems reasonable. Ive seen Service points outside or near the entrance to campsites in mainland Europe that are open for all. Some sites in France even have Aires attached to them. All sites should offer this here (forget about the showers). People are going to wild camp no matter what so you may as well make a fiver off them for emptying the loo and a bit of water. Win win IMO.

Yes there are sites with aires next to them, but many sites do not allow you to use the facilities if you are on the staying on the aire.
You may well be able to sneak in, but that's different.
Often the sites are municipal ones too, like at Arromanches and Metz.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Very much in favour of sites opening up their services for a fee, but not so sure I'd be in favour of councils making sites do this. That requires a lot more thinking about.

I'm not sure why, I don't see a down side, they have the facilities so it could help with the site costs, the only downside I can see is possible queueing to use them but if it is all sites then even that might not be too big a problem.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

That seems reasonable. Ive seen Service points outside or near the entrance to campsites in mainland Europe that are open for all. Some sites in France even have Aires attached to them. All sites should offer this here (forget about the showers). People are going to wild camp no matter what so you may as well make a fiver off them for emptying the loo and a bit of water. Win win IMO.

That requires joined up thinking and I'll eat me blinkin' hat if the UK ever catches up with Europe on this one.

You'd think after all the fuss during the pandemic and subsequent increased use of campervans that a lot more councils would have woken up to the problems - but you're talking local government, and UK government at that, so what are the odds of any kind of fast improvement when you're governed by (bankrupt!) dinosaurs?

I reckon not-so-well-off campers will be squeezed out by profiteering, or everyone in a camper banned to b*gg*ry before any kind of common sense comes along.

We're already discriminated against with extortionate parking charges just by daring to own the "wrong kind" of vehicle!

 

[Pudsey Bear]

If open to the public ,then is it fare for people paying £40 a night to wait for a shower ,fill up, empty etc .it's a hard one but an amazing idea and we are members but I have passed on to friends .Thankyou

Fair point, the increased revenue would help them to pay for better facilities, but @ £40 a night they should be able to cope already, when we did camp, the sites we used the showers had maybe ten cubicles and we were the only ones using them anyway.

 

[TJBi]

Very much in favour of sites opening up their services for a fee, but not so sure I'd be in favour of councils making sites do this. That requires a lot more thinking about.

Not sure how councils could oblige existing sites to do this. Could be made a condition of permission for new sites, but difficult to apply retroactively.

 

[mark61]

I'm not sure why, I don't see a down side, they have the facilities so it could help with the site costs, the only downside I can see is possible queueing to use them but if it is all sites then even that might not be too big a problem.

Perhaps people who run sites and people who stay on sites may see a downside, one has already been expressed in post 14.