Overnight campers' action

why is it ok for a local to 'meander down and have lunch in the car' when it's apparently not for someone in a MH to do exactly the same?

i have just looked at this stretch of road on google maps and can't see hoardes of MH parking anywhere..perhals you could be more specific as I have to come to Portsmouth in a few weeks and will be overnighting somewhere, this might make a nice change....

dont worry, I'll arrive at 10pm, be gone by 7:30 and take my rubbish with me.... 

But they may also be local tax paying residents so you are discriminating against your fellow resident who has paid council tax, VED on their van and ordinary PAYE/Tax on earnings?

Found this interesting article, some may already have seen it

https://wildaboutscotland.com/2017/09/24/why-taxing-motorhomes-for-visiting-the-western-isles-is-a-bad-idea/

I think that respect for places visited, and local people, has to be considered. Neither MH or caravans are attractive if congregating in huge numbers, we stayed at Hurn Lane Club Site for first time last month, arrived in dark, and were horrified at what was all around us next morning, thousands of little white boxes as far as the eye could see! (Club Site was nice, as expected, but we will never go back, location not our kind of place) 

 

Yes, I know several motorhome owners in our town who have to, or choose to park their vehicles on the road outside or near their home. To the casual observer they just may appear to be tourists. Although we keep ours in storage we sometimes bring it home and park outside on the road overnight if we need to pack or work on it. It's too easy sometimes to jump to conclusions. Some even seem to enjoy this.

Unfortunately your last sentence is a bit off the reality mark BB, as there are many places in the uk where both motorhomes and even caravans are being parked up and being used as alternative living accommodation. One of our relatives looks out on a large converted prison van parked up in front of their home, there are several similar vans in the area (a city.) It's a growing problem for some and this leaves owners of vans which are used for leisure only possibly exacerbating local feelings about LVs when they are seen to be parked up in certain places for lengthy stays.

Exmouth has been mentioned, where there is a temporary trial going on for M/H overnight parking. Fees have to be paid but there are no safety features, vans are parked up close together with generators and BBQs being used. In these times of cash strapped councils is this an ok use of much needed funds for social care etc? Especially when there are already local sites for vans?

It's a dilemma because people are looking for something that is free but someone has to pay somewhere.

I’m not discriminating against anyone, I’m using my right as a citizen to object to any planning proposal that I don’t think benefits my community

think you are missing the point BB

I have no objection to MH owners meandering down and having lunch in their MH, my point was, this luxury and i call it a luxury because there are not many areas today where parking on the beach is FOC would probably be taken away if parking charges were introduced for MH who wanted to maybe stay overnight. To recoup the monies needed to provide such a facility, which again has been alluded to in a previous post, local councils would no doubt introduce blanket charging.

of course you cannot see hoardes of MH parking, the sun has gone winter is upon us and they are now probably all in Spain.

arrive at 10pm be gone by 7.30 pm, well this would be breaking the law, because as i said previously, although parking is FOC in most of  the car parks there is a by-law which prohibits "habitation", so yes park by all means, stay overnight, but might i suggest you then find a local B&B and help our local economy in fact "habitation" is prohibited in most of the fee paying parksand lots of height barriers

I can understand the ire of local residents towards 'long-stay' LVs but that can be resolved by the institution of a 24 or 48 hour parking limit. 

As for the individual using additional parking space for his BBQ/chairs, I'd have been inclined to throw them in the sea as well. Such conduct along with waste discharge is anti-social and spoils it for the rest of us. 

Prohibition of specific classes of vehicle opens a whole can of worms. What about 'white van man' who wants to stop for his lunch for instance? Same size, same colour ( mostly) as a motorhome.

I think we are debating two things here. One is parking up overnight at minimum cost, legally, without causing nuisance to local residents/other visitors and moving on next day. All well and good, let’s hope local authorities make better use of potential overnight parking slots.

The other is having a holiday on the cheap, hoping not to be a nuisance, but ultimately spoiling the very nature of why we want to visit somewhere in the first place! That’s a balancing act between spend in the local area, and behaving so as not to alter the very nature of where we are, and upsetting local residents. It only takes one or two totally inconsiderate visitors to upset the balance, and spoil things for everyone. 

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