# Motorhome Friendly and Unfriendly Parking



## Guest (Jul 19, 2006)

One of the first things which struck us when we purchased our motorhome was the impossibility of parking in some towns or areas of them. This was discussed on the "Avoid Salisbury" thread and I recall that somebody listed suggestions from that thread in one post (which I can't find now).

So, I decided - as much for my own convenience as owt else  - to document both friendly and unfriendly places we came across or which we found out about from others. For that reason the information is bound to be a bit patchy - but I hope it will be of some use to other people so I've loaded the information I have to a new area on our web site at http://www.jigrah.co.uk/mhpark/mhpbase.htm.

There's a link on that page for anyone to e-mail update suggestions to me and I'll try - when not away in the van obviously  - to process updates as soon as I can.

regards,
Graham


----------



## Guest (Aug 21, 2006)

Over the last 24 hours or so I've sent e-mails to most councils in the UK asking for information about motorhome parking, especially:
1. Height restrictions.
2. Requirements for parking within bay confines (including any requirement for purchasing two parking tickets where the length of a vehicle means that it overhangs a second bay at its rear).
3. Any provision of toilet and waste disposal facilities.
4. Any provision of spaces specifically aimed at motorhomes and/or caravans.
5. Any provision for (or ban on) overnight parking.
6. Restricted access caused by narrow roads/entrances. 

Most responses so far have been merely acknowledgements (not surprising as councils have 20 working days to respond under the Freedom of Information Act 2000) but I have had some substantive replies. My aim is to update the web pages as responses come in - and I've done so with those received to date.

Hopefully all councils will respond within the time allowed and the pages will be updated by the end of September.

Regards,
Graham


----------



## ruthiebabe (Aug 16, 2005)

wonderful, GJH, may we add to it? How? 

I am aware that there are similar initiatives on forums to document same, but because I personally haven't really looked at them/couldn't say whaere they are, I will leave it to others replying to comment on them...but once again, fantastic.


----------



## 94055 (May 1, 2005)

Hi Graham
Well done mate. 
Why not download it onto MHF download pages?
I await your reply from councils

Steve


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

This is going to be a very useful resource Graham -thanks for all your hard work.

I added a bit to the "Avoid Salisbury - please" thread earlier this evening. Perhaps it would have been better here. At risk of boring by repetition it read:

_Strike Grantham from your list of places that welcome motorhomes.

Last week I phoned the tourist office from the campsite before we left to ask where we could park while we shopped and looked around the town.

I was told that all their car parks had height barriers and, unless I could find on-street parking somewhere, there was no point in coming in a motorhome. No suggestions were forthcoming as to where I was likely to find onsteet parking. We don't know the town so didn't even attempt to look. _
G


----------



## Guest (Aug 21, 2006)

ruthiebabe said:


> wonderful, GJH, may we add to it? How?


Thanks. I'll welcome additions - please use the e-mail link on the web page.

Graham


----------



## Guest (Aug 21, 2006)

stevercar said:


> Hi Graham
> Well done mate.
> Why not download it onto MHF download pages?
> I await your reply from councils
> ...


Thanks. I looked at adding it to the downloads but it appears that that is only for files - my stuff is a set of web pages.

Graham


----------



## Guest (Aug 21, 2006)

Grizzly said:


> Strike Grantham from your list of places that welcome motorhomes.


It will be interesting to see what Lincolnshire County Council reply with. I've only been to Grantham once - last January before we bought the van - and it didn't seem all that friendly for a Citroen Berlingo 

Graham


----------



## 96105 (Aug 23, 2005)

hi
what anoeys me is the car parks with height barriers the one near the coast :x so you can not park near the beach :!:  at burnham on sea you drive on the beach for £3.50 for the day
awning etc...  depends on council :roll: 

ray


----------



## xgx (Oct 14, 2005)

Thanks Graham, used your site to visit Leicestershire CC site... 

completed their survey and suggested that they could improve their tourism appeal if they had a m/h friendly section!!

btw couldn't find any info on barriers/no barriers :roll:


----------



## klubnomad (Mar 6, 2006)

I would be interested to see what Peterborough City Council say. There are lots of places to wildcamp in the area.

Dave

656


----------



## Guest (Aug 22, 2006)

I'm still waiting for substantive replies from Leicestershire and Peterborough so hopefully there will be more information soon.

The current Leicestershire link is just one I found when trolling round county council sites a few weeks ago - but it is fairly typical of those councils which do actually provide information, being aimed at car drivers.

Graham


----------



## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

Thanks for that Graham, I have now added it to Favourites.


----------



## Guest (Aug 31, 2006)

We were away in the van last weekend and since we got back I've been battin' me little brains out trying to catch up with responses from councils to my Freedom of Information requests.

So far I've had about 70 replies which, not surprisingly, vary in quality to an extent - that leaves about 3 or 4 times as many still to come in.

I've also registered a new name for the web pages - www.motorhomeparking.co.uk - to make them easier to access.

Graham


----------



## 100769 (Aug 29, 2006)

Brilliant idea Graham - we have just bought our first one (collecting at end of the month) and like you it all seems a tad daunting re parking.

Just had a peep at your website - looks a great start and we are looking forward to adding many (hopefully helpful) comments.

Regards,

Keith & Viv


----------



## Guest (Dec 27, 2006)

*Publicity & first phase nearly complete*

As Gerald mentioned Here, the web site - www.motorhomeparking.co.uk - received some press recognition this month.

Answers have now been received from all but half a dozen councils - which I shall be chasing up (again!) next week - so the first phase is nearly complete and I'm starting pro-active contact with other organisations

The magazine article has generated some interesting extra contributions from readers, especially for Scotland, and any more will be gratefully received.

Happy New Year and happy travelling to all.

Graham


----------



## Guest (Dec 29, 2006)

*Re: Publicity & first phase nearly complete*



GJH said:


> so the first phase is nearly complete and I'm starting pro-active contact with other organisations


I've e-mailed all National Park Authorities plus English Heritage, National Trust, English Nature, Scottish National Heritage & National Trust for Scotland.

Also e-mailed Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys & Waitrose but can't find an e-mail address for Morrisons - anyone know one? If not maybe I'll just drop a letter in at our local branch

Graham


----------



## 94055 (May 1, 2005)

Hi Graham,
No email to be found 8O 
This may be the best contact

Morrisons Public Relations Department 
Hilmore House 
Gain Lane
Bradford
BD3 7DL

Good luck

Steve


----------



## Guest (Dec 29, 2006)

Thanks Steve. I looked all round the Morrisons web site and the only e-mail address is for job applications. I would have thought they would at least have an on-line form like Asda.

Dunno if they're scared of spam - can't remember if they sell it :lol: 

I'll get 'em somehow  

Graham


----------



## Guest (Feb 1, 2007)

Well, after four and a half months (whatever happened to the 20 working days allowed by law?) the first phase is over.

The final awaited answer from a council contacted back in August came through today with the admission by the London Borough of Southwark that they don't know whether they have any height restrictors on their car parks or even if there are any public loos in the borough.

I'm still awaiting some responses from the second phase (National Parks etc) and will add those when received.

I'll continue to contact other organisations as and when the opportuntity arises - and will always be happy to add contributions from individuals.

I hope people find the web site useful.

Graham


----------



## Pollydoodle (Aug 18, 2005)

*Parking Salisbury*

I have read somewhere that some motorhomers contacted Salisbury Council regarding parking and were directed to their Park and Ride on the Ringwood road which has apparently, a few motorhome spaces. I think that the attendant raised the barriers for them. perhaps someone else remembers seeing this - maybe one of the magazines


----------



## rexos (Oct 16, 2006)

*motorhome parking*

Hiya Graham,
Gotta say, well done for your efforts in trying to `kick ass` with local authorities.
I`m with you all the way. 
As a truck driver, formerly on the continent, now back in the UK, I still have problems parking overnight.
We are treated, by UK authorities, and often the general public.......... as something that gets stuck to your shoes when you walk down an urban footpath!!
I hope that we motorhomers dont fall into that category with the councils, as in this country, are decades behind our continental friends.
Maybe one day they will realise the financial benefits of accepting us within their boundaries, as we, as you know, bring currency into the local economy.
Best wishes,
Rex


----------



## Guest (Feb 1, 2007)

*Re: Parking Salisbury*



Pollydoodle said:


> I have read somewhere that some motorhomers contacted Salisbury Council regarding parking and were directed to their Park and Ride on the Ringwood road which has apparently, a few motorhome spaces. I think that the attendant raised the barriers for them. perhaps someone else remembers seeing this - maybe one of the magazines


The P&R at Salisbury which can be used (at attendant's discretion) is the one at Britford. There is also city centre parking at the Central Long Stay car park. See Here.

Graham


----------



## Guest (Feb 1, 2007)

*Re: motorhome parking*



rexos said:


> Hiya Graham,
> Gotta say, well done for your efforts in trying to `kick ass` with local authorities.


Thanks Rex



rexos said:


> Maybe one day they will realise the financial benefits of accepting us within their boundaries, as we, as you know, bring currency into the local economy.


Slowly, slowly catchee monkey. I agree with the Motor Caravanners Club view that when one or two councils start to make money and see economic benefits we will hopefully see a domino effect.

Graham


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

*Re: motorhome parking*

[quote="GJH"
Slowly, slowly catchee monkey. I agree with the Motor Caravanners Club view that when one or two councils start to make money and see economic benefits we will hopefully see a domino effect.
Graham[/quote]

Sterling efforts Graham to provide a very useful website. I don't suppose you would consider putting it into booklet form ? Perhaps Nuke would let you sell it via Outdoorbits ?

I hope everyone who uses a dedicated MH facility makes a point of thanking those who provided it and saying how much they spent in the vicinity because we could stop and feel welcome ? If enough of us do this then perhaps, as you say, there will be a domino effect.

G


----------



## 2kias (Sep 18, 2006)

Rather than put Grahams site in a booklet why not download it to your laptop and take it with you. A booklet will always be out of date.

Try this prog. It does work.
http://www.web-site-downloader.com/entire/


----------



## Guest (Feb 1, 2007)

2kias said:


> Rather than put Grahams site in a booklet why not download it to your laptop and take it with you. A booklet will always be out of date.
> Try this prog. It does work.
> http://www.web-site-downloader.com/entire/


I agree fully. We publish out of copyright books scanned to CD as part of our business and we do so, rather than publish printed copies, because printing costs are so high. In addition, the Re-use of Public Sector Information regulations (which I fully support) allow councils etc. to make a charge if any commercial gain is made - RoPSI regs mean that publishing as on the web site, for no commercial gain, has to attract no charge.

The copyright conditions for the MH Parking site deliberately include "Permission is hereby given for information to be extracted from this web site (including printing and copying to computers for off-line viewing) for personal use free of charge." specifically so that people can be comfortable with taking electronic or self-printed copies on their travels.

Graham


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

2kias said:


> Rather than put Grahams site in a booklet why not download it to your laptop and take it with you. A booklet will always be out of date.


Two reasons why having the information on the laptop is not a viable option for me: my laptop battery has stopped holding any charge so in order to use the laptop it has to be plugged in. This, while on the move is not a simple option. 
Second, it is much easier, when we come across a town we'd like to explore - and this is not always planned -to reach into the glovebox, take out a book and find a parking space. It takes seconds to put the book away, several minutes to disassemble the computer and put that out of sight. 
Thanks for the website however and for Graham's assurance that I can legally print the information myself. I'm going to dig out the instructions given some time ago on MHF and translate it all into POI files for Tomtom.

G


----------



## 2kias (Sep 18, 2006)

Hi Grizzly

Our old laptop battery went so I bought a 12 volt power pack. We leave the laptop on the table or seat behind us and just look at it when we need to. Found out that you should never use it while it is plugged into the mains. Batteries fail very quickly.

Where there is a will there's a way!

Bit puzzled as to what you are putting onto your TomTom from Graham's site. What Poi's?

P.S. Anyone want to buy a laptop? Excellent Condition Dead Battery).
PM for details


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

2kias said:


> Bit puzzled as to what you are putting onto your TomTom from Graham's site. What Poi's?


Given time and a capacity to enter lots of data it's possible to convert the map references for various sites of interest - eg MH friendly parking - into POI files and upload them onto Tomtom. That way I can ask Tomtom to direct me to the nearest MH friendly car park when we are on our travels.

Instructions for doing this are somewhere on this site and, DV, saved somewhere on my computer. I've never done it before but am going to have a go with the sites that we might use in the next few months.

There is a further complication to using our laptop while on the move. The 12v cab power supply is taken up with Tomtom, the rear ones do not work when on the move and anyway, given that we have a rear lounge layout, are too far away to be useful.

G


----------



## 2kias (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks G. I have to say I couldn't be bovered to do all that. I just put the carpark address in the TomTom off the website and we are up and away.
We use an adapter from our cigar lighter and I have put two more sockets in.


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

2kias said:


> I just put the carpark address in the TomTom off the website and we are up and away.
> We use an adapter from our cigar lighter and I have put two more sockets in.


Aah but you've got to know there is a car park there and have an idea where it is in relation to your current position - which is dynamic unless you park to do all this ! Using Tomtom POIs you can ask TT to guide you to the nearest / most convenient at the tap of a screen.

I don't actually _want_ to run the laptop en route. We have the technology to do so if we did.


----------



## Guest (Feb 2, 2007)

Grizzly said:


> Given time and a capacity to enter lots of data it's possible to convert the map references for various sites of interest - eg MH friendly parking - into POI files and upload them onto Tomtom. That way I can ask Tomtom to direct me to the nearest MH friendly car park when we are on our travels.


It's just struck me that some councils have given grid co-ordinates of car parks. Others have given postal codes. They could be used to pinpoint car parks on on-line maps. Don't know if that would generate any data which could be used to create PoIs more easily.

Graham


----------



## 2kias (Sep 18, 2006)

Grizzly said:


> 2kias said:
> 
> 
> > I
> ...


----------

