No Motorhomes even for parking

Our little Nuevo is not much longer or wider than a large car. Today however in the car park at Winterton on Sea in Norfolk we were turned away cos we take up too much space. Miserable sods I say

A near neighbour down our avenue has one of those four door crew cab trucks that seem so popular as company cars these days, all to do with the benefit-in-kind tax I'm told.
 It's massive, and exactly the same length as our Nuevo. Ok our van is obviously taller and a little wider, but the early Nuevo easily fits inside standard car park white lines. 
If a car park has no height barrier I feel totally justified in using it!
Al.

bikeralw wrote:A near neighbour down our avenue has one of those four door crew cab trucks that seem so popular as company cars these days, all to do with the benefit-in-kind tax I'm told.
 It's massive, and exactly the same length as our Nuevo. Ok our van is obviously taller and a little wider, but the early Nuevo easily fits inside standard car park white lines. 
If a car park has no height barrier I feel totally justified in using it!
Al.

This was a car park with a little hut and a person in it taking the money. They just said no Motorhomes and advised we parked in the village. I am sure the villages love them

Crazy isn't it, these Audis, Mercs, VWs etc are massive and take up the full amount of allotted space , fine if your a farmer or fisherman, then you need a good sturdy work horse .
Rant over
Boaby

Recently stopped over for a few hours at Skipton on the way from two ASOC rallies (Wiggington & Harrogate) rang Skipton council the previous day who offered me two car parks to choose from.
Skipton Castle Car Park £4.50 a day which was manned car park, on arrival the car park attendant could have not been more helpful.

On walking around Skipton found a second car park right near the canal basin not only once again motorhome friendly with five bays marked out exclusively for motorhomes even overnight parking available for a small fee think it was a fiver.

WELL DONE SKIPTON

Eltel wrote:Recently stopped over for a few hours at Skipton on the way from two ASOC rallies (Wiggington & Harrogate) rang Skipton council the previous day who offered me two car parks to choose from.
Skipton Castle Car Park £4.50 a day which was manned car park, on arrival the car park attendant could have not been more helpful.

On walking around Skipton found a second car park right near the canal basin not only once again motorhome friendly with five bays marked out exclusively for motorhomes even overnight parking available for a small fee think it was a fiver.

WELL DONE SKIPTON

Now that sort of thing is very good to hear

The Beach CP at Winterton is privately owned (by the Cafe owner). For whatever reason (previous bad behaviour, overnight parking or whatever?) they don't allow motorhomes campervans, caravans or motorcycles, been like thet for >10 years. Their ball, their rules.

PLOUGHLIN wrote:The Beach CP at Winterton is privately owned (by the Cafe owner). For whatever reason (previous bad behaviour, overnight parking or whatever?) they don't allow motorhomes campervans, caravans or motorcycles, been like thet for >10 years. Their ball, their rules.

Might be so but makes them miserable non inclusive * Inappropriate Word *. Hopefully their business will fail and someone more up with things will take it over

PLOUGHLIN wrote:The Beach CP at Winterton is privately owned (by the Cafe owner). For whatever reason (previous bad behaviour, overnight parking or whatever?) they don't allow motorhomes campervans, caravans or motorcycles, been like thet for >10 years. Their ball, their rules.

Might go there in the car and remove the exhaust before a couple of laps of the car park, wonder if he would then ban cars too, then only need to think about how to get pushbikes banned

Dave Gee wrote:

Might go there in the car and remove the exhaust before a couple of laps of the car park, wonder if he would then ban cars too, then only need to think about how to get pushbikes banned

Yes, and after that take a pee in the corner but make sure they see you. Then people will be banned as well.
I want to find a copy of the owner's handbook I got with a new Rapido in 2014. The first two pages detail how the French Governent didn't know if allowing motorhomes to be parked overnight in towns was a good or a bad thing. They commissioned an independent survey which found that allowing motorhomes was a benefit to the local community and thus made it law that all towns must provide o/n parking. If I could find the handbook and print lots of copies I would take them and distribute them to local councils here. This, oh best beloved, is why it is cheaper for us to pay a ferry fee and go sur le continent.

On this general topic, though, I've found park4night quite useful on our latest trip when visiting a couple of cities I didn't know.

I seldom use it for overnight parking spaces, but it can sometimes be quite handy in finding daytime parking too...

Some people just have it in for motorhome parking anywhere these days. I had a security guard in a supermarket tell me I couldn't park. No height restrictions etc, so we were able to drive in. As always, we head out the way to the quiet end of the car park. Nobody within 50 yards of us too. But out he came telling us off. I told him we were doing a bit of shopping and would be away within 30 mins. He was having none of it, asking us firmly to move. I explained there was nothing in place to advise or deter parking our motorhome. And in fact, there were several vans larger than us in standard bays throughout the car park. The bold security guard then spotted a Police car entering the car park and flagged them down. I was thinking "What The" and then some! Fortunately they advised him, it's a civil matter, but without clear signage or actual barriers etc, the supermarket couldn't really enforce anything. They even asked what was the difference when they pointed out the large Amazon vans etc, to which the security guard had no answer and walked away.
So we done our shopping and left. Will be interesting to return in the future and see if the height barriers that are in some supermarkets suddenly appear at this one.

Which supermarket brand Jacobite?

I was talking to a member of staff at one of our local supermarkets (Morrisons) about this subject just the other day. He said they're always wary when a motorhome turns up, more so if a few arrive and park together. They zoom in their security cameras to keep an eye on them.
You can guess why, especially on the Friday before a bank holiday..
They suspect a reconnaissance party...
Al.

I once asked a French man what happens if a load of travellers arrive at an aire and start doing what they do in the UK. He said within 30 minutes a couple of bulldozers plus armed Police will arrive, chain the motorhomes and tow them out. They don't bother with silly human rights, they have laws which they enforce.

Never had a problem with any of the supermarkets round here. Local Tesco had a humoungus foreign MH in it the other week, took up 2 spaces and even had a slight overhang, as long as they go in the shop management are happy.

LeClerc France, big supermarkets, all I have seen have dedicated motorhome slots, outdoor washing machines at some. 
Ditto, with permission I think, Carrefour 
No issues here, a lot use both Sainsbury and Lidl here in town, many at Morrisons Cromer.....

Never had an issue with parking at any supermarket here, we've used most of the brands at different times.The Aldi Aviemore carpark usually has more MHs and Campers than cars in it. The security guard sounds to me like a jobsworth In fact I would have pursued it with the supermarket, it would be interesting to see if they would be happy for it's policy (if it is indeed their policy) to be publicised and to lose the associated business

A motorhome is MOT tested as a Class IV vehicle, i.e. car. It is taxed the same rate as a car up to 3500kg. Over 3500kg it is taxed as private HGV. So where do these people (councils, supermarkets etc) find a problem with us. Never had a problem with supermarkets but what annoys me is height barriers at tourist places such as nature reserves. We were told at a heritage railway in the Lake District that they didn't accept motorhomes as they took up too much space, yet their website states that they welcome campervans and motorhomes. They must have failed to tell the guy on the gate so we parked anyway and so did quite a few more.

Often use Morrisons whilst away. They seem to have large parking areas and we have never had a problem.

When Out and About and I want to use the internet I pop into a McDonald's car park. Never had any problems. After using their internet in the car park I pop inside to use the loo.
Mind you, the chips and coffee are nice, and the ice cream is cheap but you can stick those orrid bun things where the sun don't shine. How can they fit so much sugar in a bun, and I would guess a burger?

orac wrote:Which supermarket brand Jacobite?

Morrisons, off the main road, just before the big dodgy junction that leads you through the Glasgow Clyde Tunnel.

Askit wrote:Never had an issue with parking at any supermarket here, we've used most of the brands at different times.The Aldi Aviemore carpark usually has more MHs and Campers than cars in it. The security guard sounds to me like a jobsworth In fact I would have pursued it with the supermarket, it would be interesting to see if they would be happy for it's policy (if it is indeed their policy) to be publicised and to lose the associated business

I'd imagine if I had spoke to a manager and asked if it was okay to park where I was, in order to spend £50.00, he may not have been to quick to send me away. We can't get into our local Tesco in Maryhill due to height barriers. They don't bother at all when you park up at the side area before the covered area of the car park. Larger Tesco at St Rollox doesn't have any restrictions, so all good there too!

pstallwood wrote:Often use Morrisons whilst away. They seem to have large parking areas and we have never had a problem.

It was a Morrisons too  

How different to this French supermarket's attitudes to 'motorhome friends'!