Camping CFs - AIBU?

[CampingCFs]

I live in a seaside town in the south west of England. We have a long coast road, lined with houses and hotels on one side, mostly with no parking restrictions.

In the last few years campervans and motorhomes have set up camp, sometimes for a night or two but sometimes for weeks, on the road. So rather than pay for an actual campsite they sleep on the side of the road. It strikes me as (a) cheeky but mostly (b) unsanitary as many don't have self-contained facilities and there are problems with human waste littering the area

It used to be for a handful of weeks in the summer but yesterday there were a dozen or so on the road and in the (free) car parks dotted along. AIBU to think that people should respect a residential area and not claim public space as their private holiday spot?

There are always people who spoil it for everyone by being CFs.

We camp a lot in Scotland (we live here too); sometimes sites, sometimes wild camping. I can honestly say I'd never dream of shitting on a beach, leaving my rubbish behind (some people leave entire tents!), letting myself into someone's house, or any of the other CFery mentioned in this thread. It really pisses me off when people pull this shit and ruin it for others.

@Hankunamatata

Campaign for resident parking permits after say 8pm.

That would affect the local businesses (hotels, restaurants) though. I think previous posters are right. When it's was a handful of discreet, respectful campers no one had a problem. I'll raise it with my councillor. It's not in our ward but the coast is an amenity for everyone living in and visiting the town.

@notagrownup

Do you live in Coverack?

No, but I know they had a different problem a few years ago in their town car park.

YANBU There have been lots of reports of human excrement from campervans in beauty spot touring areas over the last few years and it seems to be getting worse.
A lot of small VW style campervans don't have WCs and anyway cassettes need emptying every few days if you do have one. I personally think it t is wrong to park up for more than a couple of days max without then using a proper site to replenish water and empty cassette.

A lot of pubs do overnight parking for free/reduced rates for camper vans which is great but even there most would not expect you to empty cassettes in the pub wcs, as you should really use chemical waste disposal areas not just shive it down the loo!

It's really gross people leave their shit everywhere!

They did, and I've seen a few campers on the sea front too 🙈 there's also a couple of free car parks. I'm sorry it's happening, I assume it will just get worse to as it'll be the only way people can afford a holiday 🙃

A lot of pubs do overnight parking for free/reduced rates for campervans

Yes, I've stayed in one on Dartmoor and the toilets were outside. It was only for customers though, not just anyone. It was brilliant.

If you live in Cornwall you should know, (unless you’ve had your head buried in the sand) that there is a massive housing crisis and so many people have nowhere to live. Lots of people only
have the option to live in a van and that’s if they are lucky! Consider yourself extremely lucky to have a house and stop bitching and making it harder for people with no other choice. You are definitely being unreasonable! 🙄

I live in a picturesque Victorian seaside town on the north east coast, popular with tourists. Parking is free apart from the big supermarket car park and one other car park. There’s a Top Prom and Lower Prom, the top one is like the op describes, a long road with sea views. The lower Prom is along the beach.
Every weekend we are inundated with camper vans parking along the top prom, parking is at a premium anyway for the residents as many of the houses are multi occupancy or holiday lets. Yellow lines won’t work as the local residents will suffer, it’s all on street parking. Parking charges have been suggested but it’s still up for discussion.
Don’t get me started on the six blokes showering in a pop up tent thing last year.
The council spent a lot of money upgrading the public toilets on both proms about three years ago. Only to see them wrecked by camper an owners emptying their chemical waste into them..the chemical stuff did damage to the plumbing system. They all had to be replaced at huge expense to the council.

@CovoidOfAllHumanity one if the problems with campsites is that they are nowhere near where you actually want to go. So if you are in a camper, you have to pack everything up and strap it down if you want to go out and spend money locally, then unpack it all again later.

On the continent, you can usually stay IN the village, so it’s easy to visit bars and cafes or at the tourist attraction you want to visit. Here, it’s always miles away. Campsites aren’t nice places any more. They are expensive and regimental (and well appointed, true). But if you’ve got a camper you don’t need that stuff. Most people just want their morning coffee with a nice view.

I’m sure there are exceptions, but I’m very active in camper vanning forums, and I know of precisely no one who would condone this sort of behaviour. It’s absolutely not the norm. For every crap on the pavement, there will be hundreds of responsible campers, who leave a place cleaner than they found it and discourage antisocial behaviour. I suspect it’s partly cost. I would happily pay for a seafront spot, because it’s convenient and cheaper than sites, which are full of things I don’t need and dislike. But if it’s free, you get CFs. Which is why I support places like the National Trust, who are trialling opening up their car parks to campers fit an overnight boarding charge and CamPRA who are campaigning for aire-style facilities in the UK (which is very anti campervan, compared to the continent)

We have a toilet. I empty it about once a week. It’s not gross, it’s fine. We pee and poop in it as necessary. Emptying it isn’t my favourite job, because it’s heavy and awkward, but it’s no biggie.

[quote CampingCFs]@Campervangirl so where do you poop when you don't stay in a campsite?

[/quote]
Public toilets, pubs, motorway services and once in Morrisons 😂
We don't head into the real wilds, we tend to gravitate towards holiday beach type destinations, we like a pub or restaurant to eat in

Same!

@Chlo33

If you live in Cornwall you should know, (unless you’ve had your head buried in the sand) that there is a massive housing crisis and so many people have nowhere to live. Lots of people only have the option to live in a van and that’s if they are lucky! Consider yourself extremely lucky to have a house and stop bitching and making it harder for people with no other choice. You are definitely being unreasonable! 🙄

I know all about the housing crisis thanks. The people who are making a mess are not homeless. In fact the homeless guy who used to sleep in the shelter by the coast road used to complain about the noise and mess they made.

I’m not anti camper vans, just inconsiderate owners, in our town it’s the same ‘vans every week, three of them come as a group, one of the wives stood in the middle space on the road, between two of the vans, saving the space for the latecomer, she was actually knitting as she stood there!
I forgot to mention upthread that we have a touring caravan with on board facilities. Happily pay to stay at caravan sites, some have toilet and shower blocks, some don’t. We prefer to use our own caravan loo and shower.

Unfortunately, if they have a legal right to camp there, they can do so. But I am really surprised it is legal. It seems like something that your town should be able to legislate and enforce. The fines that they could collect for people who break the law should more than compensate them for the cost of catching the wrongdoers--it's not as if they're hard to find!

@CampingCFs

campervan tourists generally are not the folks who shit on beaches. I’ve not come across anyone who uses even the smallest campervan without a loo on board

I have a camper van and choose not to have a loo on board. It takes up too much room and I don't want to use it in front of DH and DD! Also, some of the vans are very sketchily converter, some have no more than a sleeping platform in the back so they have no water or cooking equipment.

Have you seen inside then? I follow loads of people convert vans on YouTube. Some fab designs in there and most do have a chemical loo. Not everyone is like you

If you want to raise this with your local council OP, please do, but please don't ask them to stop people parking there, as there are lots of people like us, who like to enjoy what you have on your doorstep, and DON'T do anything to spoil it for others. Perhaps the council could install CCTV, if it's not there already, and then put up signs warning that it's there and anyone leaving rubbish or human waste will be prosecuted. Also signs to show where the nearest local facilities are, might prove useful for those who don't have onboard toilets etc. I must admit that I am struggling to believe that campers literally do their business on the footpath, unless it's in out of the way areas, although I know it did go on throughout the early days of covid due to toilets being closed. Another thing I would ask, is that you advocate for Aires/local carparks to provide a tap and toilet disposal facilities, for a sensible price. Lots of car parks aren't actually used overnight, so the council could make extra money by opening them up to motorhomes, who do have on board facilities, but don't want to pay to park in regimented and very expensive, not to mention out of the way, camp sites. That way, we could also be located nearer town centres and so would be able to use restaurants etc., and contribute in that way too. We really aren't all irresponsible CF's you know.

please don't ask them to stop people parking there, as there are lots of people like us, who like to enjoy what you have on your doorstep

It's the absolute last resort, trust me. It would inconvenience absolutely everyone.

If you look at your water bills you will see that the cost of waste water removal is more than the cost of fresh water. That's because of expensive treatment works.
Councils offering free disposal of the contents of slop buckets or portable toilets plus rubbish which is more than the odd bag of crisps, are out of order. Those 'vanners' should pay a reasonable sum according to their daily use of those facilities, comparable to local council taxpayers.

My town is not a tourist area at all.
We have an old railway line that has been changed in to a bridleway winding through our countryside.
People let their children go to the toilet at the side of the bridleway and leave wet wipes on top if it. There are no car parks so they either park in residential streets and walk to the bridleway or they’re local!
People will poo anywhere

There was a program on the other week about the increasing number of people living in vans due to the cost of housing etc.

Government and councils need to wise up and act quickly and start to put together sites like the ones for travellers. It needs to be formalised. They will then be able to crack down in random parking as this can't continue with the waste issue.

If this is just left it could become nasty and out of control very quickly between residents and people living in vans who pay no council tax etc and expect to pitch up and shit where they like.

People shouldnt leave their shit behind obviously but i absolutely dont believe that is something most campers do.
If anyone is seriously thinking of trying to make it harder for people to stay overnight in a van, then i think you need to think about the greater consequences towards people of no fixed abode and travellers

So you don't believe in any restrictions at all @Branleuse?

@CampingCFs

So you don't believe in any restrictions at all *@Branleuse*?

I do and I dont. I think there needs to be a code of conduct, and maybe rules as to how long someone can park up before being moved on, but in general, I think people should be able to explore the country fairly freely if theyre not causing trouble, and if they are causing issue - and I mean stuff like leaving rubbish and being rowdy, then thats a seperate thing, and unrelated to the fact that sometimes people park up to sleep in their van. I think that if people live in a popular tourist area, then there will be times of the year that theyre annoyed by tourists.