# Southwold Motorhome Ban – Or maybe not now



## AndrewandShirley (Oct 13, 2007)

Today I took up the poison chalice to represent motorhome owners following further adverse publicity which will result in the proposed ban on overnight parking in Southwold.

I met (off the record) with Suffolk County Council and put forward a case why overnight parking should not be banned.

After a very honest and frank meeting Suffolk County Council put forward a proposal to allow between 6-8 spaces for overnight parking which includes sleeping, cooking etc.

They have further invite me to meet with Waveney District Council to look at another 10+ spaces nearby. The only problem with this is that the District Council own the local campsite, so clearly could have a conflict of interest.

If anyone locally would like to help me with the overall issue of overnight motorhome parking in Suffolk, please feel free to PM me.


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## wilse (Aug 10, 2007)

Don't really think I can help, but just want to say thank-you for taking the time to do this.

I haven't been to Southwold for ages.


W


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## Bob45 (Jan 22, 2007)

All the best of luck with your efforts.
You may want to also raise the issue of bringing the campsite into the 21st century - EHU and all. 
Southwold is a great place but oh that campsite!!!
Bob


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Good work! And yes, we had a night at the campsite a couple of years back - that was enough :roll:


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## 96706 (Nov 13, 2005)

Probably "teaching grandmother to suck eggs" but regarding conflict of interest with the campsite (never been to it but judging from the comments here it isn't 5 star 8O ) you could point out that motorhomers wishing to wildcamp (or whatever the choice of words is) are unlikely to choose the campsite as an alternative venue, they'd just bypass Southwold. That "wildcampers" tend to ensure they spend money in the town which is usually more than they would spend on a campsite. That campsiters by and large are self contained within that environment and do not spread their spending throughout the town. That in these days of credit crunching the town are more likely to attract visitors if they feel they can have a cheap touring break without being ripped off by campsite fees.

I'm guessing you have already said all that, but just in case . . .  

Mrs. D


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## jonegood (Nov 5, 2007)

Im all in favour of this. I am trying a similar tack with Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, we have a superb spot currently on the edge of a main car/coach park, right next to the river and just across a footbridge to lots of shops, pubs restauarants etc. 

My tack has been to attract tourist pounds/euros and I have had a good reception. biggest problem for me is that Shropshire is going unitary in 2 months time which is causing a bit of confusion. 

I would urge anybody who has a good spot in mind to write to their councillors (thats what they re for after all), I would be happy to forward my letter to anybody who wants a starting point.

I have also previously written to the National Trust who have a couple of CL's in their carparks, one is at stourton wilts ( can't remember wher the other one is)


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## oilslick (Oct 3, 2007)

*legality of this?*

I immediattely wonder about the legality if they tried to enforce this.

Would it mean a motorhome owner living in the town would not be able to legally park near there house overnight? Or if this was allowed would you be able to go inside it, if you didnt sleep?


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Andrew and Shirley,
Not many would do what you are doing so a big thanks. 

Jonegood, I would be interested in what the NT replied, I wrote to them a good few years back judging them to be one of the biggest land owners in the country. In a nutshell and from their response I judged they did not want to tread on the CC toes who managed sites on their land.

peedee


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## JockandRita (Jun 1, 2005)

AndrewandShirley said:


> Today I took up the poison chalice to represent motorhome owners following further adverse publicity which will result in the proposed ban on overnight parking in Southwold.
> 
> I met (off the record) with Suffolk County Council and put forward a case why overnight parking should not be banned.
> 
> ...


Good on you Andrew & Shirley.

Like others, we are unable to help as we don't live in the area, but we do appreciate the efforts you are going making to represent us MH'ers. Southwold is a lovely place.

Off topic I know, but my only gripe about Southwold is.........................that Adnams wouldn't let me do a brewery visit, due to H & S regs.           

Jock. :wink:


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

Well done and thank you.

I would like to explore Suffolk sometime so this is good.


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## Wanderer (May 10, 2005)

Great result, well done and thank you for your time and effort.


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

Well done AndrewandShirley ,you are a credit to us all

Les


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## jonegood (Nov 5, 2007)

The National Trust didnt reply, so I wildcamped in one of their carparks in north wales with 2 other couples and got told off in the morning - big deal.

I really do think we should all be badgering our councils on this one, most of the french aires are council run. I really do think our council is mostly up for it going to keep the pressure up.


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## 96706 (Nov 13, 2005)

Our council are paranoid about the other type of travellers setting up camp. I must say with some good reason. But there must be some way of welcoming motorhomers without running the risk of being overrun by less desirable visitors?

Mrs D


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## wilse (Aug 10, 2007)

**** said:


> Our council are paranoid about the other type of travellers setting up camp. I must say with some good reason. But there must be some way of welcoming motorhomers without running the risk of being overrun by less desirable visitors?
> 
> Mrs D


simple... say no to *****'s  and make you pay barrier style with card credit card, like they do in some French aires.

w


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

Well done A&S.

Although its great to wildcamp out in the er..wilds, its would be great to be able to legally do the same in more 'civilized' parts of the country.

Appears that English villages have missed a trick. They complain when their local stores close down and ban wildcamping.

Wildcampers could be a lifeline to these small businesses.


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## Malc (May 9, 2005)

...or another view on the same subject:
http://tinyurl.com/78yqp5
Malc


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## tomnjune (May 1, 2005)

hi, i have forgot which mh mag was running a campain for pub stops for mhomes, as there is so many pubs closing now would it not be a good thing if more could be brought on board to do aires ?. as well as more of us looking for good places for weekends etc, the harder it is to get pitches so any help to find safe cheap stop overs is a good thing ,i can understand the fear of getting overrun by people that leave the place a rubbish tip so car parks etc are putting height barriers up, but it seems that the french seem to have the right idea pity we cant follow it

tomnjune


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

The often non-stated objection by the PC authorities in the UK is that of "travellers" (or whatever PC or un-PC term you might care to use).

It takes tens of thousands of pounds worth of legal fees to get them evicted, by which time they are usually ready to move on to their next place of despoilment anyway.

France?

No such Human Rights niceties.

The Police Nationale and/or Gendarmes are in there straight away.

I understand that they do not bother with the kid gloves!

Perhaps that is why virtually every Mairie goes out of its way to provide us with Aires.

Oh, and the foresight to realise that visitors mean money spent in the local community.


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## 96706 (Nov 13, 2005)

Malc said:


> ...or another view on the same subject:
> http://tinyurl.com/78yqp5
> Malc


the article implies they were waiting to see if they got any objections - did they?

Mrs. D


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

Well done, Andrew and Shirley

It's really good to see that people like you are prepared to enter into a dialogue with a local authority.

Gerald


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## AndrewandShirley (Oct 13, 2007)

**** / Mrs D

In answer to your question regarding objections, when meeting with SCC we explored what they actually havee to do. Basically they have to investigate EVERY objection and in essance talk to those often on a one to one basis. So if say 1,000 of us emailed it would delay the matter many months.

However, we agreed that we would not promote objections using forums etc, if we could reach an agreement on alternative m/h parking. we thought this was a fair compromise.

I will not go into too much detail at this time but this small compromise and in essance a victory in actually getting some spaces, is the best we can do and from acorns.......


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Like many others I would like to place on record our thanks for your efforts and willingness to tackle this problem. There is probably an essence of truth in the orignal complaint about abuse of the area; we have all seen on many threads here where people have described their own techniques for e.g. getting rid of grey water.

By your actions you have put a face to the MH owners and are now an identifiable person with whom they have had dealings - such contacts are always beneficial.

I hope that people respect the results and do not abuse the system; divers had a similar problem in parts of the South West a number of years ago, a minority blackened the reputation for the majority. the local community objected and introduced a byelaw. As Regional Coach for the British Sub Aqua Club at the time I had the dubious privilege of trying to discuss the problems with the residents and they had documentary evidence of what they had reported, with (graphic) video of some events - that is very difficult to argue with but eventually a sensible compromise was reached. Once a restriction is in place it is very difficult to remove. It is much better to discuss the situation before such actions happen than try to revoke decisions once made.

Well done to you two for your actions; we are unlikely to visit but it is good to be able to do so, without your intervention that might not have been possible.


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## ChesterfieldHooligan (Oct 26, 2008)

:lol: I only want to say thank you for your effort I may never use the facilities but it is nice to know they are there your's Brian and Nod :lol:


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## THEPOET (May 1, 2007)

May we add our thanks for your efforts. Southwold and Aldbrough are not too far from where I live,ideal for a quick weekend away especially at this time of year when not too many people would be around. When the Ald, saga came up it stopped us visiting.

Fi sometimes has to attend a sunday course at St Felix School, Southwold and an ovenight stop in the town would be excellent. There is plenty of room to have 4 to 6 slots along the road used for parking up towards the cricket club. its usually where i park if visiting and its only a short walk into town or tothe beach, and its out of the way!

I had to chuckle when reading the article in the EDP friday, quote;'A Suffolk CC spokesman said we are reviewing all the parking restrictions in Southwold, and as part of this we are putting forward the idea of creating parking bays along North Parade. "*These would allow people to park for 24hrs BUT would PREVENT people from sleeping in their vehicles. The traffic regulation would be enforced by the Police' *(my capitals)

Are you going to sit in your 'van for 24hrs and not sleep? 8O 8O

Only joking....1 step forward 2 back.

Good Luck you two


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

THEPOET said:


> Are you going to sit in your 'van for 24hrs and not sleep? 8O 8O


We've got a place near us. Away from town, plenty of space, overlooking the sea - again, parking up to 24 hours, but *not overnight* :roll:

From spring to autumn, someone from civic amenities opens all the toilets on the sea front. It wouldn't be difficult to get them to collect a small fee from motorhomes overnighting in this place. Out of season, let people park for free.

I feel a letter and email coming on ...

Gerald


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## THEPOET (May 1, 2007)

There is an Aire in Kaisersberg near Colmar which is basically a car park. Like many other Aire's/Stellplatz's etc etc, you can park there for a daily fee, like any other car. Then I think around about 6pm you can then pay an additional small sum in the ticket machine to allow you to stay overnight till about 8am (I believe)

How simple is that!!! :roll: :roll:


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