Lincolnshire County Council

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Krisryn
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Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Krisryn »

Unfortunately a very negative reply to my email of 18/2/21 received today:

Good morning

Further to my email to you on the 24 February 2021 and having liaised with colleagues in the relevant department, we can provide the following response:

Lincolnshire County Council does have lots of laybys and smaller car parks that are not height restricted. We do however also have height restrictions and 'no overnight parking' restrictions on some of our coastal car parks. Sadly there have been issues in recent years that have resulted in conflict with the local community and other visitors.

Some motorhome owners have been parking up in our honey pot sites for months at a time, with semi-permanent encampments developing. Many of these are converted transit van type motorhomes without toilet facilities which result in the inevitable waste issues. Dealing with these visitors has proved problematic for our staff and contractors who been subjected to unacceptable behavior and treatment. We have also experienced issues with larger motorhomes that park sideways taking up several car parking spaces which again causes conflict with local residents and day visitors who are unable to park where they should in fact be able to. With very limited financial and staff resources a decision was therefore taken to exclude motorhomes and overnight parking in certain locations.

We appreciate that for those users who wish to use the facilities legitimately and with consideration, it appears that they are unwelcome. Unfortunately however, we have found the misuse to have been to such an extent that we sadly came to the above decision.

We thank you for taking the time to contact us with your feedback and we do hope that you are able to enjoy Lincolnshire and all it has to offer. Our decision to limit overnight parking etc is with the attempt to ensure that both those who visit Lincolnshire from other areas and those who live here are able to enjoy the county in its entirety.

Yours sincerely

Eloise Gore
Customer Relations Advisor

My reply:

Dear Ms Gore,

Thank you for providing a more detailed response to my email to the County Council of 18/2/2021.

I am sorry to hear of the problems that you have encountered from some visitors to your County but i do find it unfortunate for the County Council to then "tar" the whole Motorhome Community with the same brush.

I am a member of CAMpRA (Campaign for Real Aires UK). You can see the aims and objectives of CAMpRA by visiting

www.campra.org.uk

namely the provision of Aires in the U.K. I am pleased to say that some County Councils (Cornwall & Devon and others) are starting to work with us to find creative solutions that benefit not only the Motorhome Community but also the local Communities that we visit and spend money there in. These forward thinking Councils are likely to benefit most from our Community as we come out of the Pandemic. If you are made to feel unwelcome you are less likely to visit and more likely to go elsewhere.

Rather than looking at the Motorhome community as a problem, why not look at us as an untapped opportunity. Currently there are nearly 400000 Motorhomes registered in the U.K. and growing fast.

If you wish to consider pursuing creative solutions to the perceived problems that Motorhomers bring to your County then please do not hesitate to contact me. CAMpRA would be very happy to assist.

Kind regards,

Chris Ryan
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Re: Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Krisryn »

Reply to my reply, no further forward :(

Good afternoon and thank you for your reply which has been forwarded to the Countryside Access Team for their information.

We certainly appreciate your comments and it is not our intention to classify all motorhome owners as such. We have however as an authority found it difficult to maintain the balance between providing these area's and ensuring that they are used appropriately and with consideration to other visitors and importantly, local residents.

We do note your feedback however and we hope that in the future we may be able to consider alternative options that benefit everyone.

Yours sincerely

Eloise Gore
Customer Relations Advisor

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Madwitch
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Re: Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Madwitch »

Well done for trying. One of the things I can't understand is that if motorhomes are taking up more than one space but only paying for one (or indeed not paying at all) then why on earth don't they enforce the parking conditions - or if they don't have conditions, then they should! A few hefty fines on those who abuse the parking would soon make people think twice. It was interesting that at Blackwater Sands in Wales last year, motorhomes got the blame for all the litter and waste, so they put up height barriers. Funnily enough, the littering and waste problems continued - just proving the point that it was the day trippers and not the motorhomes.
Krisryn
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Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Krisryn »

First email sent to the Council:

Dear Ms Barnes & Mr Davie,

I am contacting you regarding the provision of overnight parking for Motorhomes within your County.

Having sold my business and retired last year I purchased my first Motorhome in September. When planning my first trip I was very surprised at the negative way Local Authorities viewed the Motorhome community. "No overnight parking", i.e. not welcome here seemed to be the order of the day. The average price of a Motorhome is between £50000 and £80000 and there are currently over 385000 registered in the U.K. Of these, over 50% are owned by people like me, retired. Many Motorhomers are looking for short term overnight parking (usually a maximum of 48 hours) close to local facilities (most Campsites require a 7 day booking, are not close to local facilities and are closed during Winter). During these short term stays it has been estimated that Motorhomers spend an average of £45pp per day in the local Community. The "Grey" pound at work.

You may be aware that this concept of short term overnight parking (Aires) has been greatly embraced on the Continent,and in France alone there are over 6000. Many French Villages, Towns and Cities provide these services ranging from just dedicated parking to the full Monty, Electric hookup, provision of water, grey and black waste disposal. These Aires are often only accessible via a barrier with a Bank card payment and then the additional services are again paid by card. An example with link attached is below:

https://www.campercontact.com/en/france ... nd-langres

One of the very few Councils in the U.K. that have embraced the concept is Canterbury and have found it to be very successful and self financing. Please find attached further information that you may find of interest.

Canterbury Park & Ride Success Story (1).pdf

Finally with the huge surge in Staycations that the Pandemic has caused, is this not the time for your County to re-think its attitude towards the Motorhome Community and consider the provision of Aires?

Kind regards,

Chris Ryan
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Re: Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Madcaravanner »

To be honest I read the first email from the council and TO ME it read

We have rules for our car parks but we don't police them and allow anyone to misuse them - -- - when they were complaining about people parking up for months on end

My cynical mind saw they want people to pay but not to make sure they pay
Regards

Gray

The Madcaravanner
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Re: Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Zoe »

The impression I’m getting is that Lincolnshire County Council are thinking we want overnight parking at just their coastal car parks ? The Countryside Access Team are the correct contact for the Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park which has parking sites along the coast, but no connection to car parks across the rest of the county I don’t think ?

I live in Helpringham, Nr Sleaford, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire
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Lincolnshire Council Owned Carparks

Post by Zoe »

I have been doing some research and from what I can find out the County Council are only responsible for the car parks along the East Coast that allow access to the Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park and some County Council owned nature reserves too. I have sent a personal email enquiry to the Countryside Access Team asking for clarification on overnight parking/sleeping at those coastal car parks which don’t have local bylaws restricting overnight parking.

Other council owned car parks are the responsibility of the local district councils. ‘Your district council is responsible for the management and enforcement of council-owned car parks.’ Copied from Lincolnshire County Council website re parking enforcement.

The district councils in Lincolnshire are:
* Boston - www.mybostonuk.com / 01205 314200
* East Lindsey - www.e-lindsey.gov.uk / 01507 601111
* City of Lincoln - www.lincoln.gov.uk / 01522 881188
* North Kesteven - www.n-kesteven.gov.uk / 01529 414155
* South Kesteven - www.southkesteven.gov.uk / 01476 406080
* South Holland - www.sholland.gov.uk / 01775 761161
* West Lindsey - www.west-lindsey.gov.uk / 01427 676676

Has anyone been in contact with any of the above district councils?
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Re: Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Lucinda »

Hi All, To add further to the types of reasons why aires are more relevant than campsites - I will look to contact North Kesteven unless anyone else has already done so.

1.Most motorhomers are looking for the touring option - few days here - few days there. A lot of campsites operate minimum number of days which do not always suite our style of vacation. Lincolnshire campsite owners feel this is a threat to their businesses.
2. Motorhomers who are retired are looing for more than the average one/two week holiday - prolonged touring at camp sites is expensive.
3. We have a quite few Dutch, German and French friends who find the cost of camp sites in the UK too costly for extended touring and this is their reason for not visiting the UK.
4. Motorhomers enjoy taking day trips if confined to remote sites - we would be put off going anywhere that means we cant even do this and feel welcome.
5. Clear parking guidelines and signage would resolve most issues with selfish people in all types of vehicles.
6. Having lived in Lincolnshire for over 40 years and visited the coast and other beauty spots on numerous occasions I have seen the considerable waste left by car owners. I don't understand why the car park owners think that one small bin will cover the needs of the number of people that will visit the site.
7. If there has been a rise in complaints last year due to Van Lifers then there is obviously a need for safe low cost facilities for these people in exceptional circumstances such as the times we live in.
8. Perhaps retired motorhomers could go to these sites and act as Wardens? Helping educate other van owners if required, monitoring rubbish issues and setting a good example. Perhaps we could suggest that this becomes part of the CAMpRA movement? Warden for a day?

Any thoughts?
Kind regards
Lucinda
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Re: Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Steve »

Steve - CAMpRA Leadership Team
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Re: Lincolnshire County Council

Post by Zoe »

I have just had a reply from Nina Camm at NKDC. I live near Sleaford. Please see East Midland forum page topic Sleaford Carparks. I have only asked about overnight parking in Sleaford car parks. I don’t think NK are responsible for any other car parks?
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