Wroxham & Hoveton Parish Councils - 19 Aug 21

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ldobingw
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Wroxham & Hoveton Parish Councils - 19 Aug 21

Post by ldobingw »

Good morning,

I live in Wroxham, am a motorhome owner and one of 22000 members of a national group called CAMpRA (Campaign for real Aires) https://campra.org.uk/ trying to support the economic recovery of our UK business by helping us to tour our beautiful country.

CAMpRA has grown at such pace, that it is now registered as a “not for profit” registered company limited by guarantee.
It is already recognised by many councils, tourism and professional bodies and UK Government as the main source of information on Aires in the UK. It has been represented on TV, radio and in parliament.
It works to promote the benefits of overnight parking and waste disposal points in the UK, to achieve the same freedom and welcome that we find in the rest of Europe. These overnight stop overs are common throughout Europe and are known as an “Aire”. Aires do not take business from camp sites as they are not long stay locations and have limited facilities. (Although many have fresh water supplies and waste/grey water disposal points).
CAMpRA have also produced a guide for facilities and requirement and a star rated certificate according to the facilities provided.

Research shows that:
Motorhome visitors are likely to spend an average of £50 per day when visiting an area.
The majority are retirees with disposable income, as families generally tend to favour caravans.
Motorhomes are self sufficient as far as facilities are concerned and owners would be very keen to visit our area but parking and overnight stops are an issue.
Motorhomers very rarely use campsites, preferring to overnight close to scenic walks, restaurants and pubs.
Motorhomers rarely stay in hotels or B&Bs, therefore any provision for an Aire/parking would not be in competition with these providers.

Motorhome ownership has hit a new high, since the Covid pandemic, which has caused a huge increase in “staycations”. This means there are in the region of 600,000 motorhome/motorcaravan owners in the UK (plus any visiting from Europe), who want to support local businesses over the winter months, when the holiday makers have gone home and all they require is a safe place to park and sleep in our fully self contained motorcaravans for up to 48 hours.

Many local campsites will be closed off season or are unsuitable for impromptu visits to the area and are mainly situated too far away from the local villages, shops, pubs and places to have an evening meal.

There is a huge and growing demand for these small stopovers in the UK and they provide an ideal opportunity to extend the season, plus providing free promotion for the region and supporters on social media, including the in the region of 190,000 members of Search for Sites. https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/

It is also fortunate that this is fairly easy for any business or land owner to do and with little or no financial outlay,
if it is a car park or unused hardstanding area they can apply for an exemption certificate to allow up to 5 motorcaravans to stay on your property overnight. Application is a simple completion of an online form. If it is a pub or restaurant, they can also apply to the Motorcaravanners Club Nightstop Scheme.
Along with thousands of other UK pubs, cafes and suitable locations, they can also register with Brit Stops https://www.britstops.com/ and other such sources, to make it known that they are willing to let motorhomes stop in their carpark overnight.

As a local council, you are in a position to be able to help to instigate, promote and drive forward such schemes with a view to attracting this untapped revenue stream to spend their cash in our region.

I suspect any concerns you might have will be with regard to the ‘wrong’ people using these car parks/sites so, the founders at CAMpRA, have carried out research and discovered the following:

1) The presence of motorhomes deters criminals - lots of extra pairs of eyes – just display a contact number for police/security.

2) In rural areas, it has mostly eliminated fly tipping.

3) It can generate a fair amount of revenue which would offset any (minimal) costs involved.

4) We are associated with the 'Wild & Wombling Motorhomers' whose mission is to clear up litter after other people.

There are massive networking opportunities between motorhomers’, social media groups and mobile phone apps to advertise availability and there would be lots of free advertising of the area as a tourist destination.

I have recently received a positive response from James Knight, Director of Norfolk Broads Direct with regards to the same request and await a response from Roys re their carparks. Having made members aware of this on social media, it has received over 200 positive responses from group members, which has highlighted our region already.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter and I look forward to any feedback or comments.

Regards

Les
ldobingw
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Re: Wroxham & Hoveton Parish Councils - 19 Aug 21

Post by ldobingw »

24th Aug 21

Thanks Les.

I will put this onto the agenda for next week's Full Council meeting. WPC owns very little land and would be unable to support a site itself, but I can see there are other opportunities in the area. Have you been in touch with Hoveton Parish Council as well? It would seem like the large car park to the rear of the station is a good spot.

Kind regards,
Clare

24th Aug 21

Hi Clare

Yes the email was sent to both yourself and The Clerk at Hoveton.

When I wrote to Roys, I mentioned the overflow carpark by the station as an ideal place.
I also expressed to Roys and James Night that their carparks would be ideal overnight locations, which could provide them with additional revenue and easy access to local businesses.
Hoveton has lots of available space in their car parks and where they now have the car boot sale etc., which could provide the community centre with additional income.

We are not talking about an influx of dozens of Motorhomes each night, but at the moment, there is no provision for any on either side of the bridge.

Thank you

Les
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