Plan for Aires in D&G - possibly

Somebody on the ball in D&G ?
As this area is often ignored by tourists perhaps there is more incentive to make themselves more campervan friendly ?
 
Here in D&G a lot of our local communities have access to wind farm grant payouts, so I know several are thinking of using some of this money to set up aire type facilities.
D&G is a great area, and even without aires there are loads of overnight options.
 
D&G have been authorising aires already. They have seen how successful they are; so they are stepping up the process. As well as windfarm funding there is also a Scottish Government fund to help rural communities. Only Highland and D&G have been using this funding to put in facilities for motorcaravans.
 
I've been visiting D&G for many years to enjoy the friendship of old friends who live in a quiet remote valley and who like it that way.

My mother's side of the family come from the tiniest hamlet in Northumberland, and it hurts me to see how popular it has become, for even my grandfather's home has become a holiday let.

Whilst I like the idea of the UK adopting continental Aires, I realise that these special places that I have known and loved for well over 60 years will change.

Am I selfish?
 
I don't think you are selfish. Yes things will change but if the Aires are located sensibly they would improve the area, over say five vans camping wild nearby?
I live in a small hamlet in Northumberland and would not want an aire right next to us, but a well kept aire just one field away would be fine.
Let's hope the locals support this initiative and we can all enjoy D&G that wee bit more.
K ;)
 
davep10000 said:
Here in D&G a lot of our local communities have access to wind farm grant payouts, so I know several are thinking of using some of this money to set up aire type facilities.
D&G is a great area, and even without aires there are loads of overnight options.
Click to expand...
See this article in Vanlife , D&G are working with CAMpRA and MotorhomeFun to license and promote Aires, and they are offering grants to help small 5 van sites get started.

vanlifematters.co.uk

Support new overnight stopovers in Dumfries and Galloway, Campaign for Real Aires urges

Campervan and motorhome owners are being urged to support newly created overnight stopover facilities in Dumfries and Galloway.
vanlifematters.co.uk vanlifematters.co.uk
 
CAMpRA are doing a fantastic job in raising the profile of the UK’s touring motorcaravan owners who just want a safe place to park overnight and places to empty waste responsibly.
with over 160 new Aires and many councils coming onboard this will make more places available.

Despite the concerns of some CAMpRA are not targeting wild spots, by providing more authorised overnight stops they are freeing up other areas so they are less crowded and not causing issues and complaints leading to no overnight signs.
 
Sadly some great wilding spots like the car park at Cairngorm are being lost as they become “aires”.
 
It’s a shame these councils see providing “French inspired Aires “ as valuable economic resources whereas most French Aires are provided as safe places for motorhomes to park with no expectation of an income, apart from maybe a couple of Euros for supplying water.
As Nabism says, they are just providing a CL
 
They may not expect an income from the airé, but surely they expect (hope?) people will spend some money locally.

I find it sad that while many have called for continental type Aires others now complain that their “free” places are disappearing. Whether it‘s appropriate to charge is worth debating, but the UK seems to me a high cost environment where everything must have a price. The price of many of our campsites are outrageous, especially when you compare them with those in Spain, for example, where there are all sorts of discounts and usually on-site facilities like a swimming pool and restaurant.
 
Unfortunately we have a long way to go before we get Aires like the continent but 2 years ago we had none!
Now we have over 160 plus many more car parks allowing overnight stays.
We are limited in the UK by outdated legislation but CAMpRA now have the support of the National Caravan Council and British Parking Association and are in discussions with many councils.

We can all debate semantics but an Aire (overnight parking) is not a campsite as no external equipment is allowed.
We are trying to get a network of authorised overnight parking and waste points to support our free places and stop them being closed due to overuse or abuse.

We will only succeed if we work together.

CAMpRA have had questions raised in the House of Lords, letters handed to the PM and support within government.
Changes to legislation takes time but the we are being heard and each small step is an hurdle overcome.

So please lets not waste our energy arguing amongst ourselves about terminology and complaining if the odd site now charges, think of all the extra parking spots and how many free spots we are saving from overnight bans.

We need to pull together and push for the freedom to tour the UK in our motorcaravans all year round not just when the campsites allow us!
Remember all of us are now in the UK for at least 6 months every year. WE NEED AIRES.
 
I am in the U.K. 12 months of the year and in the van a lot more than a lot of folks and paying £10 or £15 to stop on a car park is not on for me. Not arguing about it, there are probably plenty who are willing to pay it but not me. If they want me to spend money in towns and villages then give me somewhere to stop.

Of course the money I spend in fuel and supermarkets doesn’t count I suppose. I travel and live travelling, I am not on holiday. Well I am, I am on permanent holiday since retiring but not a holiday where I am eating out all the time. There are some places in the Highlands have it right and I don’t mean the £15 and pre book ones either.

Edit: I wouldn’t personally shout about NCC affiliation as they are just a bunch of manufacturers and the two big clubs making up their own rules.
 
snapster said:
It’s a shame these councils see providing “French inspired Aires “ as valuable economic resources whereas most French Aires are provided as safe places for motorhomes to park with no expectation of an income, apart from maybe a couple of Euros for supplying water.
As Nabism says, they are just providing a CL
Click to expand...
That great British pastime of offering every assistance but help and then charging the 'customer' [who is not a customer in the sense of having a choice of Providers of Services] for the privilege. Local Authorities have seen Central Government funding cut back to levels that imperil essential services [qv George Monbiot in yesterday's Guardian] and are grubbing around, charging for anything and everything, instead of a couple of £ to cover the parking and services use

Steve
 
Community Hub in Drumnadrochit you can empty cassette and take on drinking water for donations, there was parking but I wasn’t staying there so don’t know if it is chargeable and/or day only
Falls of Shin you can park for free day and night, free drinking water and rubbish disposal if you want to dump cassette it costs £7 to open the lid and grey goes down there as well. I always carry a couple of cassettes and a 25ltr black drum so didn’t need to empty cassette but did to give them something back for a very pleasant couple of days as no donations box. They do have hook up but I rarely need that and never this time of year. I think the electric may be a bit pricey unless you only want a few hours.
There are a lot more than these two but they are the only ones anything like an aire I have used, no campsites since last autumn when I stopped on one in Derbyshire to fill and empty.
Give me somewhere to park overnight where I can get water and empty cassette for a fiver and then I will be interested 👍
 
[QUOTE="nabsim, post:
Falls of Shin you can park for free day and night, free drinking water and rubbish disposal if you want to dump cassette it costs £7 to open the lid


It was £3 last year. Has it gone up?



Give me somewhere to park overnight where I can get water and empty cassette for a fiver and then I will be interested 👍
[/QUOTE]
There are quite a few of the new aires where you can empty & fill for a fiver. Our own member Cie has opened an aire near Fraserbrough called Glenbuchty Cottage. Plenty of other places do this. CAMpRA suggests to new aires that this is extra income. One aire near the Skye Bridge (auchtertyre farm) gets more empty & fill than stopovers. They are out there
 
Just checked bank account Meg and it took £7 so I hadn’t made a mistake. I didn’t need to empty out but as I said there was no way I could see to donate so that was my way round it. The shop/cafe bit was still shut up.

I saw there wee more but the two I mentioned are the only two I actually used, don’t think any of the other park ups were classed as aires. When it’s just me and the dogs we can go a long time on a cassette and tank of water :)

Nice to see all the bins and recycling options in the Highlands as well 👍
 
nabsim said:
Just checked bank account Meg and it took £7 so I hadn’t made a mistake. I didn’t need to empty out but as I said there was no way I could see to donate so that was my way round it. The shop/cafe bit was still shut up.

I saw there wee more but the two I mentioned are the only two I actually used, don’t think any of the other park ups were classed as aires. When it’s just me and the dogs we can go a long time on a cassette and tank of water :)

Nice to see all the bins and recycling options in the Highlands as well 👍
Click to expand...
Thanks for the price update for Falls of Shin. I'll change the info on Search for sites.
 
Biggarmac said:
Thanks for the price update for Falls of Shin. I'll change the info on Search for sites.
Click to expand...
I think I saw somewhere Meg that when it was £3 it also mentioned a time limit (4 minutes?). There is no timer on it, contactless card unlocks the lid then it stays open until you close it. Don’t know if I found the time thing on S4S or not but if so you may want to change that?
 
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