Motorhome and caravan parking, pt II

Further to our earlier post on parking for motorhomes and caravans, which stirred up quite a bit of interest on various social media sites, it would seem that the concept of directing people to areas where parking is easy for motorhome and caravan users would be universally popular.

( from this point on I will refer to motorhomes and caravans  as 'caravans', and their users as caravanners. No offence is intended to either party, it simply saves me a whole lot of typing and repetition……)

The issues seem to revolve around two main points:

Firstly, we need to make sure that any area highlighted as being suitable for parking a leisure vehicle has sufficient space to do so, and is easily accessible.

Secondly, we need to address the issue of signage. The last thing that you want to do when driving a long vehicle in heavy traffic,  through a town you don't know, is to have to scan every sign in the town centre , to try to find somewhere to park. 

So, to work towards developing a network of recognised daytime parking sites, we intend to start scoping  existing  car parks, initially in Nairn and the immediate area, then gradually further afield. We will take account of:

·       Space available for parking : suitability  for caravans/motorhomes/ campervans

·       Ease of access for vehicles of different sizes and any size limitations

·       Note the details of facilities  available nearby

·       Suitability of area for people with mobility issues

All the information will appear on a dedicate section of our website, along with a link to the locations on Google maps.  We  also hope to  receive information about suitable locations from the caravanning  community.

Hopefully, we can then lobby Transport Scotland and the Highland and Moray Councils to erect simple signage on the outskirts of town to advise caravanners  that  they are about to enter a town that is 'caravan friendly' and they can feel free to stop, eat and shop.

Should councils provide free caravan and motorhome parking?

Generally speaking  the caravan and motorhome fraternity tend to be a  grand group of folks  who  are not only prepared to spend up to tens of thousands of pounds on good equipment but also  a considerable amount when they are on their travels.

The vast majority of people tend to use caravan sites for their overnight stays but finding somewhere to park when you are travelling between sites can cause all kinds of issues. Sadly , the only viable option for many is to roll up to the nearest  out of town supermarket, as it's the only place to park,  and spend their money within their walls.

One Australian Council is making provision for both free daytime  and overnight parking , see the details here
 
It would be good to see dedicated parking spaces  made available to  motorhomes and caravans owners that want to visit our towns and villages, so they can park close enough to high streets and town centres to visit them on foot.

It's a shame that we have to witness all of that  spending potential  just driving through our towns, only to end up on some soulless retail park,  and further adding to the massive profits of the national retailers who operate their.

Most towns in our area have some ground that could be utilised to offer more central parking to both leisure vehicles and coaches and , if we offer the facility, people will come, and they'll keep coming.