Perth - written to councillors

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The Sooz
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Perth - written to councillors

Post by The Sooz »

I've written to the councillors in my ward (Perth itself) using the template and copied to the local MP and MSP. Fingers crossed for a positive response :)
The Sooz
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Re: Perth - written to councillors

Post by The Sooz »

Feedback already from one councillor - and it's good news ......

"I have just heard back and I am glad to say that some money was set aside to do some trial sites. However this was delayed due to COVID. It is on the agenda apparently for next week and the convenor of Environment & Infrastructure committee is 100% behind getting these set up.

As soon as I get some more information I will let you know."
The Sooz
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Re: Perth - written to councillors

Post by The Sooz »

Got this back today from an official at PKC via a Councillor .....

'I can confirm that the Economic Wellbeing Plan includes proposals for the development and funding of additional infrastructure to support the development of the camping and campervan market in Perth and Kinross in recognition of demand pressures and growth potential in domestic tourism.

Work is currently being progressed corporately and with partners to deal with immediate demand pressures and impacts on the countryside as well as an audit of existing access facilities.

Guidance has been prepared to support private investment in new facilities and proposals are being developed for investment in existing and new parking infrastructure including waste disposal and electrical charging points using existing budget resources

External funding has been secured for investment in additional access infrastructure via the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund at Loch Leven and further schemes are in the pipeline are under consideration for support through this source'
LizM
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Re: Perth - written to councillors

Post by LizM »

Well done! Please can you post what you wrote to them, and also let us know who you contacted because I'm in Perthshire too and don't want to duplicate (without knowing - might do intentionally, with a different letter).
The Sooz
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Re: Perth - written to councillors

Post by The Sooz »

As requested here is the email I sent to my local councillors. Please note that they represent my local ward and anyone else writing to the council should ensure they write to their counsellors. You can check who they are on the Perth and Kinross website.
Also, my suggested sites relate to Perth centre so be sure to change these so they are relevant to your own area.

I used the template ‘letter to counsellors’ which is probably better to cut and paste because the bits you need to change are highlighted in red! Less danger of cutting and pasting the wrong stuff.


Dear Councillors Barrett, Ahern, Parrott and Drysdale,


Perth is such a lovely place and missing out on income from the fastest growing market sector of tourists, ie motorhomes and campervans.

Motorhome owners don't need campsites with all the bells and whistles ie toilets, shower blocks, clubhouses, play areas - just a place to park for one or two nights. In Perth, we have numerous big car parks where between 5-10 spaces could be designated for motorhome overnight parking. This would have a number of benefits to the region.

1) Extra parking revenue - surveys show motorhomers are prepared to pay £5 per overnight + whatever is the standard charge for daytime parking. Better than the land standing empty overnight - car parks can raise revenue for 24 hours.

2) Motorhomers have been found to spend, on average, in excess of £45 per night in the local area in shops, restaurants, cafes and pubs.

3) The presence of a group of motorhomes parked up overnight can be a deterrent to criminals.

4) There are massive networking opportunities between motorhomers' social media groups and there would be lots of free advertising of the area as a tourist destination.

5) We support the environment - most of us carry litter pickers and tidy up whatever we find around us. We do not make a mess.

All over Europe there are networks of motorhome ‘Aires’ or ’Stellplatz', our twin town, Aschaffenburg, Germany has one with others not far outwith their city boundary.


As an experienced motorhomer, I have identified a number of possibilities throughout the city:

- South Inch Car Park;

- the vacant brownfield site on Riggs Road, next to Lidl;

- the Leisure Pool (in fact given the pool is closed for the foreseeable and there is already a barrier in place it would be a great revenue raiser for any future pool upgrade;

- Bells Sports Centre between late and early hours;

- any of the retail parks between late and early hours (parking wardens are employed to ensure folk don’t overstay their 3 hour maximum so it would be easy to add ensuring motorhomes and campervans have vacated their pitch on time);

- any school car parks and/or playgrounds, many of which are unused at weekends and during holidays. The revenue could go direct to the school.

I appreciate that there might be issues that could concern you but none of them is insurmountable. Canterbury has three such aires and they are making a lot of money for the area. They have tried and tested strategies for dealing with any potential issues that might arise.

Please check out CAMpRA the Campaign for Real Aires https://www.campra.org.uk website or our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/campra.uk. You would need to join but it is free and a source of all sorts of information regarding how to set up and run an aire, facts and figures about how many motorhomers there are in the UK (fastest growing group of staycationers), how much they spend on a trip etc.

Motorhome stopover sites would have no impact at all on local campsites hotels and B&Bs as they are a different market, aires and campsites happily co-exist on the continent. Without Aires in the UK, motorhomers will simply take their holidays and their money to Europe and European motorhomers will probably not come. We have information that Europeans are baffled and dismayed by the UK's lack of specific provision and are, on the whole, unwilling to pay the extortionate rates demanded by campsites.

I would appreciate it if you would consider this request and would be happy to speak with you further.

Yours sincerely



cc: Pete Wishart MP
John Swinney MSP
LizM
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Re: Perth - written to councillors

Post by LizM »

Brilliant letter and thanks for posting. I'm in the process of emailing the 3 ward councillors for Highland Perthshire (following up the withdrawn application for facilities at Kinloch Rannoch)
Glengirlie
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Re: Perth - written to councillors

Post by Glengirlie »

Hi LizM - I am interested to find out if you got a response from the Highland Pertshire Councillors. I am a Community Councillor in Dunkeld. One of our community councillors spoke to a council officer last week and was told that they are meeting tomorrow - apparently he said:
'they need to figure out a way of displacing camper vans from the North End car park without causing problems elsewhere. He added that they can't direct people to other car parks for overnight stays as it could be suggested that they are then running a camp site!'
Is there a Campra resource which can counter this argument? Presumably the Forestry Commission who are about to open up their park for the night in their car parks are not considering that they are running a campsite.
Steve
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Re: Perth - written to councillors

Post by Steve »

This is a link to our business hub with information that may help.
It is impotent to to note that “no camping is allowed” overnight parking is for fully self contained motorcaravans only.
https://campra.org.uk/business-hub/

If you see my recent Facebook post we have the support of British Parking Association who are working with councils all over the UK.
Steve - CAMpRA Leadership Team
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