Should users be fined?

With any sort of covering grass will suffer to a greater or lesser degree. Totally covered(tarp/plastic sheet) will be a greater degree, breathable cover(holes/spaces in the cover) lesser degree. The grass is being stopped from photosynthesising, even by using a breathable G/sheet it is causing damage. However for a few weeks covering of the grass it will recuperate happily. Cover it for months & the grass will die. With a breathable G/sheet it will be less dramatic & problematic. The fact the G/sheet is within an awning is also stressing the grass due to the sunlight being weakened in its life giving properties. 

Every time this  comes up someone  will liken hard standings  to Tesco carparks, there is no reason  why getting away from grass with all the asociated problems should lead to a "car park" environment if properly designed ,Commons  Wood is a good example. We spend much time in hotter  places where grass wouldnt grow anyway and dont miss mud, insects or boggy ground. A site with hard standings pitches hedged with flowering shrubs beats rows of vans in a field every time  IMHO

if that went ahead the club would not see us again. We like hard standings but with grass around them. Hard standings without grass is too hard in appearence for us.

I pitty anyone going to St Davids -after the summer hols.Its a grass only site and will be a quagmire of mud with the wardens buisily reeseeding the  awning sites.Definately a price should be paid for awnngs if only to recover the extra maintenance costs.

Malcolm what do you use in your massive awning? I know you're on grass for 3 weeks at a time. Maybe you could enlighten us as to how you manage not to kill the grass, either from the ground sheet or from the skirts around the awning.

I pitty anyone going to St Davids -after the summer hols.Its a grass only site and will be a quagmire of mud with the wardens buisily reeseeding the  awning sites.Definately a price should be paid for awnngs if only to recover the extra maintenance costs.

We spent a fortnight at St Davids last year. No signs of any quagmires anywhere. The other option is to sideways shift all the pitches over a bit

If this were the model for club sites there would be no problem with grass.

well it is on most sites, I can't think of a club site that has HS that doesn't have a grass strip between pitches, remember all the threads on people walking/sitting/drying clothes... on the strips?

with all this about fines for grass, charging extra for arrivals before 12 penalties for speeding,why not bring back the guillotine!! joking of course !!! surely rotation of grass pitch allocation should resolve the problem ie left side of hook up one week right side next (allowing for length of booking)