# West Dorset Parking



## 88835 (May 9, 2005)

I have been in Dorset for the last 7 days to do a bit of fishing i enquired at the tackle shop in West Bay if he could recomend a spot other than West Bay he said to try West Bexington a couple of miles east, car park right on the beach.
I parked up for the day paid my £4.00 i was tackling up when i was approached by an inspector who asked me to leave the car park as my vehicle was over 4.5 meters this ruling has just come about very recently and it applies to the whole of West Dorset he then went around all vehicles over 4.5 and they had to leave also.
10 seater school bus on field trip the lot i think he did one chap in a white van for £50.00 fixed penalt
sapper


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## beagle (Sep 25, 2005)

well that scuppers the quick day trips i had planned in my own back yard. Bloody nuisance.

I can't park even my car in Weymouth like I used to - everywhere you pay. The businesses in town moan that it's driving people away from the town - of course it is. 

I live in a lovely area of the country - but you can only enjoy it from a moving vehicle! (correction - come to think of it, with the crazyWeymouth traffic system, in the summer you will in fact be stationary for long enough to at least let all your passengers out to enjoy the beach while you wait in the van...)


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

sapper said:


> I parked up for the day paid my £4.00 i was tackling up when i was approached by an inspector who asked me to leave the car park as my vehicle was over 4.5 meters this ruling has just come about very recently and it applies to the whole of West Dorset he then went around all vehicles over 4.5 and they had to leave also.
> 10 seater school bus on field trip the lot i think he did one chap in a white van for £50.00 fixed penalt
> sapper


Did he say why this was so ? Has anyone written to West Dorset council to ask why ? Given that all of the vehicles you mention had paid their parking fees, were presumably within a legal parking space and were clealy there for the day what is the point of the ruling.

Don't give up without a fight. This is NOT reasonable.

G


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2006)

Grizzly said:


> Has anyone written to West Dorset council to ask why ? Given that all of the vehicles you mention had paid their parking fees, were presumably within a legal parking space and were clealy there for the day what is the point of the ruling.


Yes, I've written to them for my Motorhome Friendly & Unfriendly Parking web site.

According to the information I received from West Dorset last month, West Bay is the only car park they have where motor homes are welcome. See http://www.motorhomeparking.co.uk/wdorset.htm.

Of course, if anyone thinks the attitude of the council is unreasonable there is no reason at all why they shouldn't contact them to ask (under the Freedom of Information Act) for an explanation of why the rules were formulated in that way and to ask the council to consider changing their rules.

Regards,
Graham


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

suggest contacting:-

[email protected]

and ask for deatails of parking for motorhomes. ask the question why no vehcles over 4.5 metres?


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

I contacted WDDC - correspondence is as below (obvioulsy a cut fro O/L express - oldest posting at the bottom!)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your help, and the spreadsheet; I will post it on the www.motorhomefacts.com site.
I know that in my own district the council allow parking of larger vehicles than the bay if the user pays for 2 spaces - would that be possible in WD? 
I have a BMW 7 series car which is over 5m long - would it get a ticket if I parked in one of your car parks?

Thank you again,

Michael Turner
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Anita Moore 
To: MICHAEL TURNER 
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 9:30 AM
Subject: RE: problems parking a motorhome

Dear Mr Turner

Due to the length of most motorhomes many of our car parks are not suitable for motorhome parking. Like many Councils we have a maximum length limitation of 4.8m for any vehicles using our car parks. However we recognise that most motorhomes exceed this length and we have either created longer bays or have permited motorhomes to utilise spaces in our coach parks in at least one car park per town so that motorhome drivers may enjoy the delights of West Dorset. The attached spreadsheet gives details of permited parking places. Maps showing the location of the car parks can be found on www.dorsetforyou.com website.

With regards
Parking Services
West Dorset District Council
01305 252240

-----Original Message-----
From: MICHAEL TURNER [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 20 September 2006 09:37
To: Carparks Reception
Subject: problems parking a motorhome

A problem from a member on motorhomefacts.com:-

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopicp-162737.html#162737

one of the members had difficlulty parking in West Bexington - is this a case of an over-zealous attendant or are motorhomes not welcome (or indeed minibuses) in your area?

Best regards

Michael Turner) 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They say that the size limit is 4.8 metres; if this was rigidly applied then a number of larger cars like my 7 series BMW would get tickets - hence my query back to them.
The spreadsheet is in excel format - if anybody wants it please contact me & I can send it on. I'll also try to convert it to PDF format so I can post it here.

Have also sent a PM to GJH with the spreadsheet.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2006)

Thanks for the spreadsheet Mike.

For the benefit of all, I've converted it to pdf format and updated the West Dorset page.

Regards,
Graham


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## MOTORHOMER (May 9, 2005)

What about the disabled motorhome driver. One carpark location surely is not suitable to someone who has difficulty walking.


motorhomer


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2006)

I hereby declare that I am a DOZY ARTICLE :roll: 

Got to wondering why the spreadsheet which West Dorset sent me contained less data than the one they sent to Mike. Answer is that it didn't, just that I had read it wrongly because it's a number of sheets within a workbook.

My fault entirely for mis-reading.

As everything is now in pdf format there is no need for the html table (and separate page) I created for West Dorset so I have updated the site to include the pdf link on the main Dorset page.

Humbly,
Graham


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## 88835 (May 9, 2005)

*West Bay Car Park*

When I stayed in the car park at West Bay last week I stayed overnight in the one designated for Heavy Goods etc on the left as you enter there is a height barrier on that car park proceed to the right and down to the bottom there is about 4 spaces for motorhomes one bay at the moment is occupied by a motorhome for sale it looks as though it has been there a while.
On the left as you look at these bays is were the HG park. Further back are the Waste Disposal Bins for recycling they are standing on about 6 bays designated for motorhomes so we are unable to use about 50% of the spaces. Charges are stated as £2.50. or 40p for overnight i had a
couple of HG drivers look at them they could not decide so paid £2.50 I paid 40p. 
sapper


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

sapper - I'll have a go tomorrow about this - might as well get the things useable!


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## 98635 (Apr 12, 2006)

Hello Sapper

I think we parked near you in Weymouth on Wednesday 13th September. You mentioned your trouble in West Bexington! Wish I'd realised at the time you were a member of this forum.

:roll:


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