This post came up on the CAMPRA group today. Grim reading. It’s self explanatory. Does anyone know anything about this? Unless the motorhome community digs its collective head out of the sand and comes up with some positive reactions and proposals we may not be enjoying our passion north of the border very much longer.....
<< A letter was passed to me this week by a friend, a campervan user. The letter was sent to Community Councils throughout Scotland asking for help and co-operation in getting camper vans banned from informal, or wild camping, in Scotland.
The letter came from the pen of someone called Viki Sutherland, who is Chair of the Glencoe & Glen Etive Community Council.
I won’t reproduce all the letter but key points include the following:
“I have already spoken to many of you on the phone but feel that in spite of this I should include you in the e-mail setting out the Glencoe & Glen Etive Community Councils idea to get as many Community Councils to back a collective approach to the problem we all suffer from – over tourism.”
“We would like to suggest that a law be brought in in Scotland that makes it illegal to park overnight in any place other than a proper Camp site. Be this for small vans camping as well as the thousands of Campervans & Caravans that visit us every year.”
“All this needs to be rolled out "pan Scotland”. We all should apply the same rules and have the same signs as our neighbours in order for this to be effective.”
“Once we have agreement and as many onboard as possible we should involve the Scottish Government because only through them will we be able to resolve this.”
“We have all enjoyed a traffic & litter free 3 months and we see the difference to our wildlife and our own lives. None of us want to return to what was deemed as "normal" behaviour by our Visitors. We need the Tourists but if we are not to be overwhelmed again we help to mange them.”
I was very saddened to read this. An attempt to criminalise an innocent pastime is pretty nasty and while I would be the first to agree that some campervanners fall short of the required behaviour it’s unfortunate that this Community Council has failed to recognise the changing face of tourism in Scotland.
When I was a lad we stayed in a caravan on a campsite for a couple of weeks at a time. We didn’t move around. The caravan was static. Most folk enjoyed holidays like this.
Today’s active travel market is very different. People want to explore, they want to use their campervan to travel and live in while they walk, climb, cycle, paddle a canoe or watch birds and wildlife. They want to be able to move around and park at night in a safe piece of level ground. They will check into a campsite every few days to shower and empty waste and pick up fresh water.
Rather than vehemently oppose this form of tourism I’m particularly sad at the lack of vision shown by this Community Council. They should see it as an opportunity, not a problem. An opportunity to create small, informal parking spaces on the edge of villages or towns where camper vans could park overnight for a small fee to cover costs.
Better still would be the creation of a network of Continental-style aires, again with the overnight fees going to the community. It amazes me that in a country like Scotland, that boasts of being progressive, we are actually regressive on issues like this.
It seems that camper vans are being blamed for littering the countryside when recent events during lockdown have clearly demonstrated the fact that the gross littering of our countryside is by members of the general public, folk from all walks of life. Indeed I would go as far as suggesting that campervan owners are amongst the most caring of countryside users.
While many campervanners don’t want to pay upwards of £30-35 for a pitch in a five-star campsite that has all-singing, all-dancing facilities (although some are happy to pay that) I’m pretty sure most are happy to pay a realistic fee for a night in a budget one-star campsite, or Aire.
Instead of trying to criminalise campervanners, community councils should be working with us to create a network of such budget overnights. They will make money from it, their local shops, restaurants, pubs etc will benefit from it and we campervanners will benefit from it too.
I would urge Scottish Community Councils to sit down and talk to us campervan users. There are ways we can all benefit from dialogue and create something that would be good for Scotland, and on a final note I would just add that making overnight campervan parking illegal would mean re-writing UK Traffic law, and that ain’t going to happen. Let’s iron out the problems that exist and create somewhere worthy to benefit everyone. It can be done.
A letter was passed to me this week by a friend, a campervan user. The letter was sent to Community Councils throughout Scotland asking for help and co-operation in getting camper vans banned from informal, or wild camping, in Scotland.
The letter came from the pen of someone called Viki Sutherland, who is Chair of the Glencoe & Glen Etive Community Council.
I won’t reproduce all the letter but key points include the following:
“I have already spoken to many of you on the phone but feel that in spite of this I should include you in the e-mail setting out the Glencoe & Glen Etive Community Councils idea to get as many Community Councils to back a collective approach to the problem we all suffer from – over tourism.”
“We would like to suggest that a law be brought in in Scotland that makes it illegal to park overnight in any place other than a proper Camp site. Be this for small vans camping as well as the thousands of Campervans & Caravans that visit us every year.”
“All this needs to be rolled out "pan Scotland”. We all should apply the same rules and have the same signs as our neighbours in order for this to be effective.”
“Once we have agreement and as many onboard as possible we should involve the Scottish Government because only through them will we be able to resolve this.”
“We have all enjoyed a traffic & litter free 3 months and we see the difference to our wildlife and our own lives. None of us want to return to what was deemed as "normal" behaviour by our Visitors. We need the Tourists but if we are not to be overwhelmed again we help to mange them.”
I was very saddened to read this. An attempt to criminalise an innocent pastime is pretty nasty and while I would be the first to agree that some campervanners fall short of the required behaviour it’s unfortunate that this Community Council has failed to recognise the changing face of tourism in Scotland.
When I was a lad we stayed in a caravan on a campsite for a couple of weeks at a time. We didn’t move around. The caravan was static. Most folk enjoyed holidays like this.
Today’s active travel market is very different. People want to explore, they want to use their campervan to travel and live in while they walk, climb, cycle, paddle a canoe or watch birds and wildlife. They want to be able to move around and park at night in a safe piece of level ground. They will check into a campsite every few days to shower and empty waste and pick up fresh water.
Rather than vehemently oppose this form of tourism I’m particularly sad at the lack of vision shown by this Community Council. They should see it as an opportunity, not a problem. An opportunity to create small, informal parking spaces on the edge of villages or towns where camper vans could park overnight for a small fee to cover costs.
Better still would be the creation of a network of Continental-style aires, again with the overnight fees going to the community. It amazes me that in a country like Scotland, that boasts of being progressive, we are actually regressive on issues like this.
It seems that camper vans are being blamed for littering the countryside when recent events during lockdown have clearly demonstrated the fact that the gross littering of our countryside is by members of the general public, folk from all walks of life. Indeed I would go as far as suggesting that campervan owners are amongst the most caring of countryside users.
While many campervanners don’t want to pay upwards of £30-35 for a pitch in a five-star campsite that has all-singing, all-dancing facilities (although some are happy to pay that) I’m pretty sure most are happy to pay a realistic fee for a night in a budget one-star campsite, or Aire.
Instead of trying to criminalise campervanners, community councils should be working with us to create a network of such budget overnights. They will make money from it, their local shops, restaurants, pubs etc will benefit from it and we campervanners will benefit from it too.
I would urge Scottish Community Councils to sit down and talk to us campervan users. There are ways we can all benefit from dialogue and create something that would be good for Scotland, and on a final note I would just add that making overnight campervan parking illegal would mean re-writing UK Traffic law, and that ain’t going to happen. Let’s iron out the problems that exist and create somewhere worthy to benefit everyone. It can be done.>>
It stresses responsible wild camping and the plus sides of doing it with children !
