Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act, 1960

Although the CAMC may have 'gold plated' some aspects of the 1960 Act, the 5-van part of it is a key aspect that cannot be changed without reviewing the whole Act.

That simply isn't going to happen - it is too big a piece of legislation, with too many interested parties, including Club-owned sites, CLs, ralliers, and more significantly, the trade organisations of static caravan sites, such as the British Holiday & Home Parks Association.

Clubs such as the CAMC and C&CC have too much to lose if a review of the Act goes in the wrong direction.

The other factor if trying to change the Act is that the government has different priorities at present, so anyone trying to change the 1960 Act would just be wasting their time.

The 5-van limit was a concession to landowners to avoid the need for small sites to go through the full process of Planning Permission.  Landowners (and Club members) should see this as a benefit, rather than an imposition.

If CL Owners want more than 5 vans on their land, they then need to go via the Planning Permission process and be licenced by their local council. This is costly and the site owner would also be responsible for their own advertising. The CAMC website and Sites Directory are easier and cheaper ways for landowners to promote small caravan sites.

'No Tents' is a CAMC rule, rather than the law, but if CL owners want to stay with the CAMC, they need to play by Club rules.

• The C&CC and Freedom Camping Club allow tents under the 1960 Act, but those are much smaller organisations, with fewer members as potential guests. The CAMC is the 'brand leader'.
• The C&CC charges landowners £165 + VAT every 2 years to operate CSs (equivalent to CLs). It does not allow CS Owners to advertise their CSs outside the main C&CC website and C&CC Sites Handbook, i.e. no personal websites, and no FaceBook pages to promote the CS.  (The CAMC simply asks that new CL Owners pay the same membership fee as other Club members.)

If CL Owners break the law, by over-booking, allowing tents or having non-recreational guests (e.g. workers or residents), they are putting the interests of Club members and the businesses of other CL Owners at risk in 2 ways:

• The CAMC could lose its status of being allowed to issue operating Certificates to CLs.
• If a neighbouring CL is struggling with lack of bookings, a CL Owner that overbooks is potentially damaging their neighbour’s income stream.

By recommending neighbouring CLs, it helps a CL Owner’s local economy; the neighbour might return the favour; and our experience is that the people we turned-away will probably pop-in to see what they've missed, and often book us for their next holiday.

Ian Kelly
01691 622951
Holiday@BirchHill.co.uk
Birch Hill, The Cross, Ellesmere, Shropshire, SY12 0LP
www.BirchHill.co.uk

Birch Hill Farm – relax at our award-winning hideaway in the beautiful lake-lands of Shropshire - exclusively for members of the Caravan and Motorhome Club