Have your say on Motorway Service Areas

Indeed, TW!  As they say.... 'you win some, you lose some'....  At least I feel I've almost won the 'allowing folk to book a specific type of pitch surface' issue.... almost... 😀

David

Yes, well done👏🏻😄

The group that coordinated this survey has not met since September 2019 and the confidence in the results, four years on, being relevant remains to be seen and is not likely to be credible.

Part of the reply DSB was given.

Firstly what took them so long in the first place from getting the results to their last meeting which was 18 months before Covid gave them an excuse not to bother.

Secondly, the fact that I sometimes cannot find a caravan space empty on a motorway service station is STILL relevant today. Not that much has changed and if it has it's the fact there are even more LV units looking for a space than there was 3 or 4 years ago.

Talk about finding excuses not to bother doing something.

Like TW said, thanks for trying David.

I agree entirely, Wherenext.  I have a sneaking suspicion that we may have not heard the last of this.... 😀

David

David 

The last sentence is a bit worrying. Whilst I appreciate provision will need to be made for EV vehicles towing caravans to be able to be charged on motorway services. However the downside is likely to be the unwillingness to provide additional spaces for non EV towed caravans? OK that issue will eventually resolve itself but not for some years?

David

Indeed, David.  I agree.  After saying that  my issue has always been safety.......mainly the problems of finding a parking space with a caravan should one need to pull over in case of tiredness or if someone 'is desperate to use the toilet facilities'.

If motorway service stations hike the prices for EV charging like they do for prices of petrol and diesel, perhaps they won't need to install as many EV charging point as they anticipate...  I certainly can't remember the last time I ever dreamed of putting diesel in at a motorway service station!!!  😀😀

David

I have been noting the comments as I posted a thread aliong similar lines as this one, and was refffered here during a reply. 

I contacted MOTO and Welcome Break re their policies on  Caravan Parking spaces, and noted the following points from their respective replies.

Moto have a very clear policy but the implementation, at a local level, relies on User comments.. i.e Report any abuse and they will sort it.  Exactly when that might happen is open to debate. Staff should be there to note incidents. and either sort it there and then or provide alternative solutions to parking problems. 

Wel;come Break on the other hand, replied with some general views on how Caravan Parking spaces should be used, but offered no clear indication how to report parking abuse to them, or who to report it to.

Having said all this, the usual practise is to  contract out to a Car Parking Operations and Security  company, and rely soley on their employees performing the local oversight of the area.

This does not reduce the responsibility of the company using the land to provide the services legally required for Motorway Service Areas. i.e Caravan Parking spaces.

 Having only recently returned to Caravanning in the last 3 years and my excursions have been limited by the Covid Pandemic. I have limited experience of using MSAs when towing. The ones I have visited have had one or two Motorhomes and large White Vans parked in the Caravan Parking spaces. ( Please note, I am not picking on Motorhomes, but the ones I saw could have easily been parked in the very underused Car Parking area.)

One particular stop we planned on, was Peterborough Services on our journey to Essex. That place is a nightmare with a caravan in tow. There is very little signage and the place was packed with cars and Vans of all sizes. making it difficult to even search for a space to put a car and Caravan. We didn't even try and carrfrom ied on.

From reading posts here and also from my thread, there are a lot of issues surrounding the problems of Caravan Parking on MSA's and other 'rest areas' too. We do need to see the results of the survey, outdated as they are now, as soon as possible.

Busyelf said:

"The ones I have visited have had one or two Motorhomes and large White Vans parked in the Caravan Parking spaces. ( Please note, I am not picking on Motorhomes, but the ones I saw could have easily been parked in the very underused Car Parking area.)"

Until I read an earlier post in this thread, which reported one MSA provider to say that motorhomes can park in car parking areas, I had never known, in 35 years of motor-homing, that this was allowed; instead I always assumed that motorhomes (but not necessarily campers) should park in the caravan spaces and I have always looked only for the caravan spaces and either parked in them or, reluctantly, when all else failed, the HGV spaces. 

Vans carrying goods most certainly should not be in the caravan area, but I am not sure it is fair, or right, to imply that motorhomes should look for car parking spaces in preference to using the caravan area. I do not think that the use of "Caravan parking" was ever meant to be that literal. On the rare occasion that the caravan parking area has been monitored by a human being, I have never been told that I should not be parking my motorhome in it.

My van is fairly long; if I had a shorter van I might look for car parking now that I know it is allowed, but I am very unlikely to do so in my current van unless the car park area had masses of space.

I think what I am wanting to say is that, whilst I now accept it is possible, I do not think that there should be any suggestion that motorhomes should prioritise finding space in the car parking area over and above making use of the caravan parking area.         

I’m not so sure it’s allowed, at least not universally. Often service areas have signage that vehicles must  be parked within designated bays, otherwise a penalty charge could be incurred. Ours most certainly will not fit in one bay and although the wheels and even bodywork are contained within the width of the white lines. It would be difficult for anyone to use the spaces alongside and get there doors open. 

A motor caravan is a caravan.