caravan pitches??

hi all

as you may have read in a previous post of mine i have recently aquired a caravan & camping site in stalham norfork. at present we have 12 static vans, 30 touring pitches & space for upto 30 tents.

we are in the process of updating the facilitys ie. new toilets/showers/clubhouse/swimmingpool & touring pitches.

at present the touring pitches are all on grass & no electric hook up?
the caravaners amongst you may be able to help with a couple of questions i have to ask?

1 would you rather have you van sit on a grass pitch or concrete? if concrete what length/width are most vans?

2 electric hook up or not? if electric hook up what sort of plug to connect to & what is the current rating of caravans?

you help with these questions will help us to make up our mines whether to go ahead with the planned works of leave the pitches as they are

thanks in advance

gary

[jace]

i have these green grates made plastick you sink them into ground and grass can grow through them and you just mow over top of them much nicer than concrete pads they look like waffle boards used for off roading! but they interlock to form nice solid platform for caravans most caravans have what i call generator plugs where the plug piece is round and blue in colour if u need any pictures ill get some for u!

[rustic]

2 electric hook up or not? if electric hook up what sort of plug to connect to & what is the current rating of caravans?


The plug type are the blue plug/sockets, you can look at them at the "Towsure "website. or go to ebay and type "electric hook up" and you will see the plug types. They are generally rated at 16 amps but most caravans would need less than this although some now have electric water heating, air conditioning, heating, microwaves, lighting etc so 16 Amps is a possibility for every socket on site, so is your mains supply up to it?.

You are probably aware of this but there are now very stringent electrical regulations regarding electric hook-up. They are outside and rely on the public to connect to, safety is paramount.
It is now a legal requirement to have these installed by a qualified electrician or inspected by the authorities etc obtaining the correct certificates and periodic inspection and testing of each hook-up etc.

RCD's (Residual Current Device, or earth leakage trip, that trips to help prevent electrical shock) would have to be installed at each pitch and armoured cable used through out, with circuit breakers. Your qualified electrician would be able to advise you on this, if he doesn't know then find one who does.
Third party liability ie danger to people and animals is a major concern.

Hope this helps but your electrician will advise, DON'T rely on a mate who thinks he can do it.

hi rustic

the electrial side is not a problem as i am a electrician just didn't know what supply caravans needed. the blue plugs/socket are all carvans fitted with these nowdays?
thanks

gary

[mr-gadget]

Yes the sockets are commando type 16 amp. normaly supplied by a 10amp breaker, though some are as low as 6amp. As for the pitches Grass every time. I wont go to a site with concrete or stone, i have enough of that at home. stone is to noisy cars driving on it cause a disturbance.

I have been looking at acquiring a caravan park. But not sure how to go about financing it etc. so have not done anything about it as yet.

[Deleted Member S]

I don't have a caravan (will I time) but my mam & dad have & use it alot up & down the country. Most of the pitchs are wide enough for the caravan + awning & car. When we have been away to see the the pitchs have all been hard stand with gravel on top or with what Jace said ontop of the dolamite foundations

[mr-gadget]

The caravan club say for fire safety the caravans should always be spaced at a minimum of 20 feet. Some site i have been to are a lot less than that...

[dinky]

How about a weekend meet,greenlaning.

[dinky]

Place down slabs for wheels,plenty of waterpoints,waste water disposal firepoint.electric 16 amps if possible.Have a look at local sites ,see how they are laid out for ideas.

[theduck]

hi gary, size width of a caravan is 7ft 6inch for most UK vans and goes up to 8ft for european vans, I must say in my opinion go for a gravel base for the van so you can put awning on the grass, and please don't forget to cater for those people with twinn axle vans mine is 7.65m long that includes the hitch and yes certainly to electric. you never know we might just pay a visit (small discount for N4x4fmoc members ):smile: :?:

[Rick1956]

I agree with The Duck, most sites offer either a grass pitch or a "hard standing" of gravel. caravaners are fickle folk (I know cause I,m one) and develop strong preferences for either. Most sites have both types of pitch with the majority being grass pitches.
Good Luck with the site.

[mav]

Hello Gary1,
Good news then as we really do like Stalham.
Just to hire a boat and have a lazy day on the river, Pub lunch, Perfect.

We will just have to come over to you when you get things up and running.

Whats the post code?, So we can see where you.

(P.S. Dont forget the WiFi.) :lol:

Funny thing is Norfolk is one of our favourite places too, try and visit at least once each year. This year on a site at North Creake in Aug. Some excellant lanes in area too. Maybe we could have a mini meet and lanes weekend when your all set up??

[Tubbs]

def hard standing and yes to electric hook up

[(RIP) PLANK]

as for me not too bothered by hard standing as caravans come in such a variety of lenghts it is hard to get it right and most local authorities require planning permission for concrete or hard core bases! :(

but decent access roads are a must for 2 wheel drives!

and electricity is a must, but it is also nice to have the option of a simple no power grass pitch!

[jace]

somewhere to hold national rally?

hi due to the local council being a complete waste of time & space this project has had to be put on hold indefantly, so now trying for plans to be able to built a house as they said 'they can't approve another caravan/campsite due to there already being so many in the area but they can approve a house upto 4/5 bedrooms' it just dont make sense to me i can built a house but not rebuilt a club house that has been there for 10+ years or allow me to use my land to have touring caravans on.

so it looks like i will either have a house with 7 arces of land or a field?
anyone want a field to graze there sheep/pigs on in norfolk????

gary

[(RIP) PLANK]

I dont think you need permission for tents, and if holding rallys for exempt organisations caravans are Ok too, you can also have 'allegedly' 5 caravans without planning permission, but I think strictly speaking, this can mean 5 vehicles so two caravans and their towing cars would count as 4 vehicles, it is down to the highest ranking police officer on duty if anyone compalins (unless all five caravans ar eoccupied by members of an exempt organisation). So even with your new house you can still have a limited amount of caravans just not as many as you might wish! the head office of the 'exempt organisations' is at 'top barn farm' in Worcester they should be able to let ou know what you can do without local authority approval!

and by the way the hadel fell of my fork the other day :cry:

[mr-gadget]

It may be a good idea to speak to the camping and caravan club, (as they have tents etc as well and may get more business) Ask them about getting a franchise, tell them you have the land and what you want to do, they may well back you up, having a large organisation like that on your side the council may take a different stance on it. and the club has more cash to fight the council with....


Just a thought...

hi
thanks for all the advise but without being able to rebuild the clubhouse /toilets & shower blocks it all seems to be a none starter, the most annoying thing about it is that uptill 2 years ago it was still being used as a site by my grandad?? got a meeting with the powers that be next week so i will see how i get on then but it looks like its going to be a new house in sunny stalham for me..

cheers

gary

[mr-gadget]

If the building or the footings still exist they cannot stop you rebuilding anything, as long as it is the same as before. i e the footprint is the same. you cannot make it bigger. but it is still worth a 50 pence phonecall the the camping and caravan club... you may get some free advice... and we all love something free. :lol:

[Deleted Member S]

Tell them your going to make the land into a 4x4 play site :smile: & they'll let you do anything else -rotfl- -rotfl- -rotfl-
Hope all gose well for you at the meeting 8)

[KillerPete]

Do you want clubhouse /toilets & shower blocks. I have used club sites that have non of these, just some were to empty the loo.

killerpete

[(RIP) PLANK]

killer pete has a good point you dont need anyhting! plus puting a toilet and shower in your out house and letting your friends use it may be an option!

caravan and camping clup are good, they are one of the exempt organisations I reffer too! It is the caravan sites and control of development act 1968 tha they are exempt from, this is an area i have a fair bit of experience in and there are many ways round it!

Try the Caravan club (as opposed to the camping and caravan club) 01342326944, ask for estates services and they will explain how you can run a Certified location for them with up to 5 vans. No planning permission needed and the facilities you have you charge for, ie; as you add more, toilet, shower etc you charge more. At least this may get you going.

[(RIP) PLANK]

caravan club, caravan and camping club and most of the big owners clubs are all exempt organisations and the rules regarding them and the way they can certificate sites is the same! if you are a certificated site from one organisation you can open your doors to members of other organisations in the same way. So cameraman's suggestion is a good un! give them a call.