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Proportion of Serviced v Standard Pitches

DavidKlyne replied on 25/06/2019 12:57

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DavidKlyne

Motorhomer from Buckinghamshire

Posted on 25/06/2019 12:57

On this forum the subject of whether there are not enough or too many serviced pitches has been discussed from time to time. We have recently stayed at the new Club site Cayton Village near Scarborough. Nice site and from a motorhome perspective it has good access to public transport. However what surprised me was the fact that the site only seemed about half full over the weekend and I wondered if this was a result of the site having a majority of serviced pitches, 190 out of about 270 pitches in total and people not being willing to pay the extra £3.90 a night? I suspect when the Club refurbish the the site the number of serviced pitches will be considerably reduced as in general the current ones don't meet the Clubs spacing requirements. The reason we had  a serviced pitch was that we wanted a hardstanding and with only 29 standard hardstanding on the site we didn't want to risk it! 

David

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DSB replied on 26/06/2019 21:42

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DSB

Caravanner from Staffordshire
Posted on 26/06/2019 19:51 by

I think that they are 'super' serviced pitches with toilet disposal as well

Posted on 26/06/2019 21:42

Only ever stayed on one site almost like this, and that was some years ago.  It was Dornafield in Devon, where there are some pitches that have one CDP between two pitches.

David 

replied on 26/06/2019 21:57

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Posted on 26/06/2019 20:52 by hooker128

That's the same thing my father came across at is photography club, they would spend thousands on equipment but did not take many photographs because of the cost of film and developing, I agree with you, from the total cost of investment,fuel , insurance etc it is ridiculous.

Posted on 26/06/2019 21:57

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replied on 26/06/2019 22:00

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Posted on 26/06/2019 21:42 by DSB

Only ever stayed on one site almost like this, and that was some years ago.  It was Dornafield in Devon, where there are some pitches that have one CDP between two pitches.

David 

Posted on 26/06/2019 22:00

I had an end pitch there a few years ago. Waste bin, toilet empty, water and grey waste alongside pitch.

Tinwheeler replied on 26/06/2019 22:15

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Tinwheeler

Campervanner from Cornwall
Posted on 26/06/2019 21:57 by

Why is it ridiculous? It’s been explained up thread… maybe people buy their motorhomes  / caravans & tow cars from a different ‘pot’ of money (perhaps  a  windfall / inheritance / Premium Bond win / Lottery win / retirement lump sum). It doesn’t then follow that the owner has oodles of disposable cash to spend on fees for pitches they don’t need – or, more importantly, want.

I have my extravagances.  SP pitches and CAMC prices are not among them. It’s my choice.

Posted on 26/06/2019 22:15

Are you saying people buy expensive LVs without giving thought to the cost of using them?

Surely the sensible folk will have sussed out the running/using costs in advance and, if necessary, bought less expensive units so there’s something left in the pot for using it. Is anyone really going to splash out an enormous sum on an LV they can’t afford to use?

replied on 26/06/2019 22:37

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Posted on 26/06/2019 22:15 by Tinwheeler

Are you saying people buy expensive LVs without giving thought to the cost of using them?

Surely the sensible folk will have sussed out the running/using costs in advance and, if necessary, bought less expensive units so there’s something left in the pot for using it. Is anyone really going to splash out an enormous sum on an LV they can’t afford to use?

Posted on 26/06/2019 22:37

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Tinwheeler replied on 26/06/2019 22:51

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Tinwheeler

Campervanner from Cornwall
Posted on 26/06/2019 22:37 by

 No, I haven't said that at all. Where have I said that people cannot use their vans?

Maybe (and we are all just postulating here) people choose "expensive" vans, with all facilities on board, in order to be independent, not having to rely on full facility sites and service pitches.

I was commenting on the use of the word "ridiculous" in the context of people with (what was perceived to be) expensive outfits not paying for SPs, and re-iterating the idea expressed up-thread as to the different 'pots' of expenditure.

Posted on 26/06/2019 22:51

I was asking exactly what you were saying because what I described was the implication I picked up. Thanks for clarifying.

Actually, if you read Hooker’s post in context it was about the ridiculousness of people spending mega bucks on an LV and then scrimping on site fees in general, not just SP fees.

I find the concept of different pots of money rather odd. What you (and others) describe is a bit like buying steak because the food money pot is flush and turning the heating off because the lekky pot is empty. It suggests poor budgeting skills to my mind.

 

Navigateur replied on 26/06/2019 22:54

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Navigateur

Caravanner from Lanarkshire

Posted on 26/06/2019 22:54

Were there not comments in another thread earlier this month about the theory that SOME people who have bought expensive motor caravans grudge paying site fees at all and try to ovenight for free somewhere?

KjellNN replied on 26/06/2019 23:20

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KjellNN

Caravanner
Posted on 26/06/2019 22:37 by

 No, I haven't said that at all. Where have I said that people cannot use their vans?

Maybe (and we are all just postulating here) people choose "expensive" vans, with all facilities on board, in order to be independent, not having to rely on full facility sites and service pitches.

I was commenting on the use of the word "ridiculous" in the context of people with (what was perceived to be) expensive outfits not paying for SPs, and re-iterating the idea expressed up-thread as to the different 'pots' of expenditure.

Posted on 26/06/2019 23:20

Yes, that is why we bought the van we have, and the one before it.

Our previous van (1998) had a very good full width end shower room which meant we could be totally independent of site facilities, or the lack of them, if necessary, so we looked for something at least as good when we decided to change to a fixed bed model (2008).

The great strength of Club sites is that you can generally depend on there being good disabled facilities, something that is not always available abroad, so as we planned to tour in Europe for extended periods, not needing to worry about such facilities was essential.

Although we had not thought of it at the time, 11 years back, it also means that we can use no-facility sites and CLs in UK, which we have been doing increasingly in the last few years to keep site costs down.

Previous van was purchased with money from savings while I was working, current one was from pension lump sum, as was the towcar we bought when I retired in 2007,  Current towcar was purchased with savings from pension income in the previous 9 years, we make a point of saving enough to replace capital used on such purchases, and of living within our income.  

This is becoming more difficult each year as my pension is not rising as fast as inflation, so we are increasingly focusing on site costs as one of the things that we can choose to do something about.

 

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