£30 a night no facilities what planet are they on

The thing is, this is why we probably shouldn’t directly compare prices. I usually find that I can spend a lot less staying on full facility sites with hard standing, EHU and a full services pitch than those staying in a pub where they want you to buy a meal and drinks. But that’s not the point.

Also, I don’t think we should necessarily keep on about not needing sites because camper vans and Motorhome’s have onboard facilities; so do most of the caravans I see.

What the free spirits want is the freedom to just turn up, unplanned and unfettered, without a check in time, with minimal rules and regs. Then leave and travel on. There’s a value in that above and beyond the parking and facilities. It’s how we get that message across and reach a compromise that’s currently evading me. But the letters are great. Keep them up. My last one to a local sailing club received short shrift!!!
 
Having sent my letter to the East Devon committee regarding the proposed charges I have had two instant replies, one supporting the idea of keeping charges sensible and one from a Bongo owner who is also supportive of keeping parking within reach. It may well be that the reporting on the Devon Live site which is not always that accurate has not helped. No decision has yet been made on charges.
 
Lucky to live in Ulster as Islandmaggee from my youth is free, many a pint/tin i had here tenting with my cub parked outside. :)
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tidewatcher said:
Having sent my letter to the East Devon committee regarding the proposed charges I have had two instant replies, one supporting the idea of keeping charges sensible and one from a Bongo owner who is also supportive of keeping parking within reach. It may well be that the reporting on the Devon Live site which is not always that accurate has not helped. No decision has yet been made on charges.
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Many thanks for all your efforts tidewatcher, very much appreciated.
For me what’s important here is that some councillors argued that this was fair and reasonable. I hope that the £11 charge remains. But this only serves to underline how we are viewed by some within local councils.
 
Rolyan57 said:
I know not everyone wants to use sites. But for those that do there are many 5 van sites charging only £10 per night, with EHU and facilities. I can get club sites with hard standing, EHU and full facilities for less than £20. It’s madness to be charging what some are charging, but most places are not ripping us off with extortionate prices and many places have availability.

Perhaps it’s not relevant on a wild camping site, but I’m not convinced regulated car parks are really wild camping (I’m not referring to Findhorn or similar).
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Where do I find these £10 per night sites please?
 
Ladyfreespirit said:
Where do I find these £10 per night sites please?
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I'd start by looking at either of the two big clubs as they both operate small 5 pitch basic sites that tend to be on the cheaper side (especially away from the main honey pots)
And look for friendly farmers who are very often happy to have cold hard cash placed in their palms for a night's parking....

Some of the small friendly spots listed on places like search for sites can be excellent too both cost wise and location wise....

Basically avoid anything commercial and in over popular locations.
 
My
mistericeman said:
I'd start by looking at either of the two big clubs as they both operate small 5 pitch basic sites that tend to be on the cheaper side (especially away from the main honey pots)
And look for friendly farmers who are very often happy to have cold hard cash placed in their palms for a night's parking....

Some of the small friendly spots listed on places like search for sites can be excellent too both cost wise and location wise....

Basically avoid anything commercial and in over popular locations.
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mother told me to be careful about Friendly Farmers 😂
 
Ladyfreespirit said:
My

mother told me to be careful about Friendly Farmers 😂
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Funnily enough I've had similar warnings...

But most of the ones I've met seem only interested in lightening my wallet slightly....
Whilst gently muttering about how, poor they are as they drive off in a rather large shiny tractor/range rover /large 4x4 etc....

We met a lovely chap up at Nenthead that was almost incredulous that we had parked at the side of his field on the side of some old lead mine workings, and were collecting litter whilst chatting to him about his Swaledale/Mule flocks that he had recently released and were busy being hefted to his land.

Didn't want any money BUT happily accepted a cup of tea and some home made cake.
 
Fisherman said:
Many thanks for all your efforts tidewatcher, very much appreciated.
For me what’s important here is that some councillors argued that this was fair and reasonable. I hope that the £11 charge remains. But this only serves to underline how we are viewed by some within local councils.
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Stayed in Boroughbridge last night . No facilities , apart from public toilets , honesty box asking for a fiver (clever box)
Even more of a bargain when I had a pint for £2.50 and a fish supper for £5.95 !
Edinburgh is literally twice that
 
Ladyfreespirit said:
Where do I find these £10 per night sites please?
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I use the certificated sites on the 2 large clubs. You have to search a bit but they are out there. There’s quite a few at or around that price, often with hard standing, electric and basic facilities thrown in. I would much rather be there than a car park with idiots doing donuts all night!
 
mickymost said:
I’m sure you could negotiate a discount with Trev ;)
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Do you think 80% discount would be acceptable.......
Err hang on I've paid £7 per night in Aberaeron before now....
Elsan and water included...... was a bit crowded though...
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Tats said:
Just back from the Findhorn and can report the stop over was excellent. We prefer to wildcamp normally but wanted to be close to the beach, so when I saw this place had recently opened wanted to give it a try. The car parks got pretty busy in the day and the stop-over was booked full for the 2 nights we were there. There were a couple of people wild-camping but they got asked to move on, normally there's a height barrier which would have prevented anything too big but it was just getting fixed so I don't think they realised, either that or they ignored the signs! The Findhorn is lovely, a nice little village with beautiful bay and the beach is fantastic. The stopover site is just across the dunes from it and in walking distance of the village with pubs, a shop and delicious fish and chips (quite pricey though). The beach car park (which has a daily charge) and stop-over is a community led enterprise rather than Council run so I feel the £15 a night fair as they've had to invest in the facilities including water and waste points, hardstanding pitches, fencing/barriers, ANPR and booking website. Volunteers came round checking everything was in order and were perhaps a tad over-zealous in enforcing the rules, e.g. someone had deigned to put up a windbreak the other side of the fence to the site and were using it to store their canoe i.e. bending the rules slightly (nothing to be left outside your van overnight) but got told to take it down nevertheless. But as it's new they probably just want to make sure everyone's behaving, especially if they only got planning permission if the rules were keenly observed, they're there on display for everyone to see so no reason not to respect them and it is a lovely place to stay. You can use the public toilets which were there already for those using the car park to access the beach, they're situated just a short walk from the stop-over site but not the best so we just used our own facilities, perhaps they'll invest in them next... Anyway, others might think differently but IMHO despite the rigid rules I think it's fair to charge for this particular place and will definitely be back.
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Hi can you give me some info on findhorn stop, I could only find campsite?
 
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