PRACTICAL MOTORHOME WOULD love to see Britain adopt the motorhome-friendly French system of aires de service in every town. Happily a few forward-thinking councils have had the same idea.

Scarborough to welcome motorhomes

Motorhomes are soon to get an official night stop at Scalby Mills, next to the North Bay’s Sea Life Centre in Scarborough. This week, Cllr Andrew Backhouse, whose portfolio covers Scarborough Council’s highways and transport arrangements, said that a car park in Scarborough – as well as others in the borough – will be designated for motorhomes to stay in overnight, for a fee.

 

This decision is the result of a parking working group, set up in response complaints from residents about motorhomes staying for free in parking bays on the street and car parks, instead of paying to use caravan sites.

 

 

Cllr Backhouse said: “We can put the motorhomes issue to bed… People might say they don’t want them in certain places but if I was in one I’d like to know where I could park? There will be car parks
in the Scarborough area that we agree as an authority to set aside for parking overnight.”

 

 

Once the scheme starts, motorhomes will be banned from camping overnight beside the road, between 11pm and 8am. Restricted areas will include Royal Albert Drive and the West Pier.

 

 

Existing legislation will be used to balance the needs of both residents and visiting campervan owners. Norman Baker MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State responsible for parking issues, said that
local authorities could tackle the problem by imposing Traffic Regulation Orders. He added: “The Secretary of State has recently authorised a new sign that can be utilised by local authorities to ban the parking of motorcaravans on their road networks.”

 

Yeovil’s new nightstop
UK Motorhomes.net reports that motorhomes are now welcome to stay overnight near Yeovil at the Cartgate truckstop and picnic area, just off the A303/A3088 roundabout. The site has an all-night café, toilets, tourist information and even wi-fi.

 

Price hike at Hayling Island
Hayling Island’s Oven Campsite and Fishery Creek Campsite have complained to the council that overnight motorhome parking at West Car Park is affecting their livelihoods. As a result, Havant Borough Council has decided to raise prices for the nightstop from the originally published rates of £8 a night from September to May inclusive and £10 a night from June to August inclusive. They will go up to £10 a night from November to February and £20 a night from March 1 to October 31.

 

Pilot scheme at Lytham St Anne’s
Fylde council now allows overnight parking for up to 13 motorhomes at a time in the centre of the lower section of the swimming pool car park in Lytham St Anne’s, five miles south of Blackpool. This pilot scheme started on April 27 and runs until October 1. It will cost just £5 per night from 6pm to 10am the following day. Normal parking tariffs apply during the day, when vehicles pay according to the number of bays they occupy. The maximum length of stay is three consecutive nights and no caravans or trailers, barbecues or open fires are allowed. Although there are no facilities here, the nearest public toilet is 300m along the promenade, and the car park also close to a pub and the leisure centre.

 

New Nightstops join our scheme
For news of the latest motorhome-friendly places to join our Practical Motorhome and Motorcaravanners’ Club‘s Nightstop Scheme, click here.

 

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