Crowded out

Whilst sympathising with your points re costing, B&A, I’m amazed that you blatantly flout the terms of your exemption certificate. 

If you want 6 units on site, you need to apply to the local authority for the correct permission rather than piggy back the 5van certification awarded by the club. 

Metering of electricity is another area where you will be tied hand and foot by regulations.

More vans, more utilities used, higher costs surely? Metering would be the better option. Let the user pay.

Hi, You are missing the point in the post you are responding to. He is stating that he would prefer to see only 5 vans on CL's but thinks that if space allowed then going up to 6 vans would bring benefits to the fragile rural economy and help owners in an uncertain environment where more CL's are closing down. This wouldn't affect the enjoyment of guests and these would still be quiet sites. Your experience of 9 vans on the CL you visited is a flagrant abuse of the rules I accept.

There is a CL I know of, I'll mention no name, who have just won an award in the CL of the Year competition and who have 6 serviced hard standing pitches on their CL. Just over the hedge from this is an 11 van commercial site and this seems to be allowed under the current Club rules, as long as the 6th pitch is merely a waiting area for someone turning up early.

Regards

Brian

It may be that all inclusive fee maybe more profitable?

I'm not a CL user but it always struck me that the regulations for the number of caravans should be linked to the size of the land area available.

How does one caravan per 400 square yards sound?  But I daren't tell you which country has that rule of thumb. 

As a regular user of both CLs and CS's, I have a great deal of sympathy for the owners of both who struggle - not to make vast profits - but often, merely to cover their costs. Indeed, I have spent the last fortnight on a CS we use regularly, trying to persuade the owner to put his prices up!

However, the terms of the Exemption Certificate are quite clear and if those terms are widely abused, it is only a matter of time before that exemption granted to both Clubs will be removed - and where will that leave us?

It’s not uncommon to find CLs with 6 pitches, as they sometimes rotate  if grass, or to give folks a bit of choice. It’s also not uncommon to find CLs with a small private site adjacent, and we have used plenty like this. I guess in this instance the planning permission has been granted and the owners have just got on with it. If members roll up and moan, that’s the member not doing their homework and realising that there’s another private site adjacent. 

I think you have a bit of a dilemma in terms of charges at Fir Cottage, and am very sympathetic. It looks a lovely site, in a great location and a quite reasonable price at first glance.

It all depends how quickly you want to recuperate your capital costs whilst still coping with your revenue costs. If you put in the services to pitches, or paid extra in terms of buying the property with them in place, then two years isn’t that long a period to claw back that investment if it is a long term project. If it’s the difference between staying open, or closing, then you might have to face a few options. You could apply for planning permission and look at putting in more pitches. You could put in place strict rules banning awning heaters and put prices up in Winter to cover electrical usage, or charge more for larger outfits. You could put in metered usage. Some of these options will incur extra investment which might or might not be feasible. Others are increasing prices to suit your visitor’s potential usage, and this might limit your pitch uptake.

Enhancing the Site is purely down to you, and what you decide to spend. It does look lovely, and I have no doubts that a lot of folks love it, but there are also others who won’t care how much you spend on trees and bird feeders, because they might be out off site most of the time. These folks will look at the bottom line and think an extra two or three pounds per night isn’t worth having a tap, a waste water point and other extras.

We actually carry a bird feeder with us wherever we go, so we have that covered, likewise we are off site every day in our MH, so serviced pitches don’t represent anything extra to us. But there are a lot of folks out there that will adore what you have done, and be willing to pay quite a significant nightly fee to stay with you. Your dilemma is which way to swing. But not adhering to the five vans overnight rule, is jeopardising everything. 

I wish you all the best, and hope things work out for you🙂

No - you are the one missing the point! Go back and read Maddie’s comment following mine. You and owners like you are putting the whole system at risk. When we book a pitch on a CL site we are in effect entering into a contract - we will have a pitch on your site with no more than five vans. You are breaking the terms of that contract. I expect by having more than five vans you’ve also invalidated your insurance. So no thank you - I won’t be coming to visit you, however spacious you think your site is. If you don’t like the terms of certification why are you running a CL site in the first place? 

CAMC - why hasn’t this site been closed down as the owner is so blatantly abusing the privilege of the club?

Any CL that will close down without breaking the 5 van rule needs to be fully commercial to increase profitability. I use the commercial sector with no issues re 6/7/8+, the first time it impacts on my stay I’d not use it again or turn around before paying👍🏻

Interesting discussion.

I run a recently opened CL, Cherry Cottage also in Dorset,  I can assure you that you will not find more than 5 vans on my CL at any time. 

The law is clear regarding the issue of the exemption certificate, the CAMC guidance is clear and members expectations are clear.  

5 VANS MAX