CCC SERVICE STOP OFF POINTS

During the pandemic Highland Council wrote to all campsites in their area asking if they were willing to allow non residents to empty and fill. Some said no. Some said yes. The ones who said yes were given grants to help them facilitate the service. There was no mention of the rates they would charge. Dornoch Campsite ( whose owner is anti- motorhomers) charge something like £11.
 
I see, yes possibly some sites might struggle with it so maybe they would need to have a minimum set of facilities to be in the scheme and be able to achieve grants to bring the site up to spec but I still think it could be a good thing to do, both for the sites as extra revenue and for our public image, this is why we're seeing a slow uptake of new Aires I suppose, it also makes the public see the councils are actually listening to their complaints.
 
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Biggarmac said:
During the pandemic Highland Council wrote to all campsites in their area asking if they were willing to allow non residents to empty and fill. Some said no. Some said yes. The ones who said yes were given grants to help them facilitate the service. There was no mention of the rates they would charge. Dornoch Campsite ( whose owner is anti- motorhomers) charge something like £11.
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I presume they got the grant ?
Most councils have loads of premises some of which , possibly, could be adapted for us ?
Thinking , for example , recycling centers/official dumps .
Pun not intended but , I think , worth leaving in
 
izwozral said:
I'm with Puds on this.
Besides, both the main clubs have the word caravan in the title.
Shudder.
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Ok Ral let’s look at it this way. I pay my £58 a year membership and kev and others book in a stop over. I then phone as a member and I am told sorry but we are booked out with non members, do you really reckon that’s ok. We know Europe is way ahead, that’s given. But the fact that the CCC are offering this to their members is way better than nothing, and way way better than the other lot who won’t entertain it. We have a long way to go if ever we will catch up with Europe, but things up here at least are improving year by year.
 
Fisherman said:
Ok Ral let’s look at it this way. I pay my £58 a year membership and kev and others book in a stop over. I then phone as a member and I am told sorry but we are booked out with non members, do you really reckon that’s ok. We know Europe is way ahead, that’s given. But the fact that the CCC are offering this to their members is way better than nothing, and way way better than the other lot who won’t entertain it. We have a long way to go if ever we will catch up with Europe, but things up here at least are improving year by year.
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I kind of agree and of course see your point, but we wouldn't be taking a pitch up so I wouldn't think it affects bookings as the services should be a turn up and queue for them, what I think would happen over time is the larger sites would possible have a service only entrance or fork road away from the main site and a new facility maybe fill and empty only, no showers, maybe with 2 or 3 bays similar to a garage.

I for one would not want to get in the way of those who camp on site in any way, but something does need to be done to encourage those who think the countryside is a dumping ground to start doing it right & improve the image they have tarnished us all with.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I kind of agree and of course see your point, but we wouldn't be taking a pitch up so I wouldn't think it affects bookings as the services should be a turn up and queue for them, what I think would happen over time is the larger sites would possible have a service only entrance or fork road away from the main site and a new facility maybe fill and empty only, no showers, maybe with 2 or 3 bays similar to a garage.

I for one would not want to get in the way of those who camp on site in any way, but something does need to be done to encourage those who think the countryside is a dumping ground to start doing it right & improve the image they have tarnished us all with.
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Off course it does Kev, and I am pleased to say in certain parts of Scotland the penny has dropped in recent years and every year new Aires and elsan points spring up helping to alleviate the issue. I know some on here don’t like Aires, but even those who are WC can use them simply to empty their cassettes and refill their water tanks, and lots of them are free, possibly asking for a donation. We were in Inverewe last summer and the local car park has such free facilities. But Scotland is full of great WC spots, and I doubt if that could ever change. Just driving about up north you constantly see great places to spend the night. But the CCC see this as a member service, and is limited to only 50 sites, and you have to book in advance. Many independent sites allow access at a price, one on Arran at Lamlash will allow free access. But there are two free elsan points on the island, and several water taps. What is lacking are grey water points, but being honest, I reckon there’s nothing wrong with discreet sensible measures there, although I would much prefer proper facilities.
 
I'm not against letting the waste shower and kitchen sink water go into the soil somewhere out of the way, getting fresh and loo emptying is the only real issue but again we've been doing it since 2006 so we know plenty of places where we can & it isn't an issue.

As you say the UK is slowly getting it's act together, too slowly though, We will use any aires that allow us to empty and replenish as and when we find them on our travels.

One refreshing thing I think without looking up the thread is there are places making the drop points so at least there are some forward thinking companies providing kit for these places, hopefully, they have a decent sales force out looking for locations to site them.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I'm not against letting the waste shower and kitchen sink water go into the soil somewhere out of the way, getting fresh and loo emptying is the only real issue but again we've been doing it since 2006 so we know plenty of places where we can & it isn't an issue.

As you say the UK is slowly getting it's act together, too slowly though, We will use any aires that allow us to empty and replenish as and when we find them on our travels.

One refreshing thing I think without looking up the thread is there are places making the drop points so at least there are some forward thinking companies providing kit for these places, hopefully, they have a decent sales force out looking for locations to site them.
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A couple of the forward-thinking companies:

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www.aireservices.com

Borne camping-car

Borne camping-car : Equipez vous de bornes de camping-car avec ou sans paiement ainsi que tous les accessoires indispensables pour leur installation.
www.trigano-collectivites.com www.trigano-collectivites.com

:)
 
Fisherman said:
Ok Ral let’s look at it this way. I pay my £58 a year membership and kev and others book in a stop over. I then phone as a member and I am told sorry but we are booked out with non members, do you really reckon that’s ok. We know Europe is way ahead, that’s given. But the fact that the CCC are offering this to their members is way better than nothing, and way way better than the other lot who won’t entertain it. We have a long way to go if ever we will catch up with Europe, but things up here at least are improving year by year.
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Non members can stay at many C&CC sites, if you where to ring up a site that was fully booked I doubt they would tell you "sorry we have a load of non members taking up the pitches".
Peak time for showers, and dumping seem to be mornings, then there can be a after dinner peak on new arrivals, so there would seem to be limited 'spare' time in peak holiday season, in the low season there should be plenty of spare capacity, but I'm not sure how it could be practically managed around those restrictions.
 
colinm said:
Non members can stay at many C&CC sites, if you where to ring up a site that was fully booked I doubt they would tell you "sorry we have a load of non members taking up the pitches".
Peak time for showers, and dumping seem to be mornings, then there can be a after dinner peak on new arrivals, so there would seem to be limited 'spare' time in peak holiday season, in the low season there should be plenty of spare capacity, but I'm not sure how it could be practically managed around those restrictions.
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I was not talking about non members staying at campsites, I was referring to non members using the stop over facilities which are limited and only available to members. The CCC make it clear that this is limited and not even always available for members.
If non members wish to go to CCC sites and pay 20-30% extra thats their choice, and I have no gripe with this whatsoever.
But both the big clubs only allow non member access to sites they cannot fill with members.
 
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We did (in error) go onto a site in Scotland a couple of years ago and asked to use the facilities and had filled, emptied and were about to have our showers, when somebody asked for our membership number, of course, we don't have one, but they were okay with us if a little put out, but we had our showers, paid up and had a cuppa and left, the site was pretty empty as it was mid week.

We would join just for the facilities, but at the time they were scattered down south so not use to us most of the time, it's not about the money, it's convenience or lack of it.

Does anyone have a link to the facilities-only map?
 
Pudsey Bear said:
We did (in error) go onto a site in Scotland a couple of years ago and asked to use the facilities and had filled, emptied and were about to have our showers, when somebody asked for our membership number, of course, we don't have one, but they were okay with us if a little put out, but we had our showers, paid up and had a cuppa and left, the site was pretty empty as it was mid week.

We would join just for the facilities, but at the time they were scattered down south so not use to us most of the time, it's not about the money, it's convenience or lack of it.

Does anyone have a link to the facilities-only map?
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I posted it on post 1 Kev.
 
Fisherman said:
Ok Ral let’s look at it this way. I pay my £58 a year membership and kev and others book in a stop over. I then phone as a member and I am told sorry but we are booked out with non members, do you really reckon that’s ok. We know Europe is way ahead, that’s given. But the fact that the CCC are offering this to their members is way better than nothing, and way way better than the other lot who won’t entertain it. We have a long way to go if ever we will catch up with Europe, but things up here at least are improving year by year.
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Europe is way behind when compared to NZ. You can use the facilities at most paying campsites, a lot of freedom camps have facilities and there are dump stations and fresh water available at some garages, parks, refuse centres, even road side facilities!
I don't like the big clubs and found some of the wardens a snooty bunch of barstewards, admittedly, the ones with a preponderance of caravans.
Some are OK, so I'm not tarring them all with the same brush but it does seem to rub off on the members also.
Try shouting out WILDCAMPING, a' la Braveheart and just feel the love emanating forth?😬
 
izwozral said:
Europe is way behind when compared to NZ. You can use the facilities at most paying campsites, a lot of freedom camps have facilities and there are dump stations and fresh water available at some garages, parks, refuse centres, even road side facilities!
I don't like the big clubs and found some of the wardens a snooty bunch of barstewards, admittedly, the ones with a preponderance of caravans.
Some are OK, so I'm not tarring them all with the same brush but it does seem to rub off on the members also.
Try shouting out WILDCAMPING, a' la Braveheart and just feel the love emanating forth?😬
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Last summer we spent two nights WC outside of the New England Bay C&MC site then the last night in the campsite. I took great pride in informing the warden that we were one of the vans he was bad mouthing when talking to another camper during check in. But I also chatted with a warden from another site who loved to WC. He’s on here now as a full time member, but rarely posts. Takes all types Ral.
 
Izwasral is right about NZ ...the rest of the world could take a look on the way they work...
You would get frowned at in Australia for putting grey waste down a sewer drain when it could go in the bush in the outback.
 
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