Advice to a Prospective CL Owner

We enjoy CL's throughout the year and only expect water, EHU and the usual waste points. A hard standing pitch is helpfull if it has been pouring it down for a month. A few times we have never met the owner and simply posted the pitch fee through the letter box. As long as there is a contact number just in case there is an issue with the hook up then that is good for us. One of the great things about CL's is the relaxed leaving times. We have found a gem that dosent get too busy off peak so we can stay until whenever we choose to leave but we always check on incoming booking before hand. 

I agree with all the OP says.
I run Newton Grove an Off-Grid CL. There are currently 407 of us in the CAMC network. I am guessing that quite a few CLs start out this way and in a few years add EHUs etc. I think it is important for the diversity of the CL network to encourage prospective CLs to have a go (even if some fail and close) I do not want the club to add EHU, WiFi, WCs & showers to their minimum standards for setting up a CL, as the cost may put some off giving it a try.
I know off-grid is not for all but I have had people say with us who are Off-grid virgins and since got themselves a solar panel and “gained their freedom”!

For me BHFCL , non EHU sites are what I seek out. Now, I realise that I am probably one in a thousand and it has already been said that the EHU seems to be prerequisite of modern caravanning. Not for me. I have just arrived in Norfolk in the cold wind and the rain but with the kit I have fitted, we are perfectly comfortable and not an orange cable in sight! . The location argument is certainly a fair argument because I tend to go to the coast if I can , not only because I love the sea but to exercise my passion for kayaking but that can be done on a river or estuary too. What John has done at Newton Grove is truly ground breaking. It shows that if people are introduced to the modern technologies such as Solar Panels, inverters and decent batteries - whether that’s AGM or Lithium, some will go on to find out more and go non EHU. I don’t think he would mind me saying that it has helped him with numbers visiting his CL.  Perhaps you could, for a start, do something similar? I am now completely independent in power and so the EHU is an irrelevance. I use the facilities on board- all of them- I don’t need anyone building a toilet and shower block- I already have all that! I tend to think that for many, off grid caravanning is a bit of a black art, something that is rather basic, something that can’t really be successful and so they are a little bit suspicious or even frightened of it.  I can assure you that is a million miles from the truth. I wish you every success in your venture but spare a thought for the non EHUer who paddles his own canoe- or kayak as may be!

When we started Fernlea CL in Perthshire we were advised by the area CL Supervisor just to start as a basic field, and I told him no way as I would never drive a Motorhome on grass alone and I did not fancy spending my time towing vans out with my vintage tractors as we are on clay soil.  We spent a lot of time designing how best to utilise the area and make it as easy as possible to get in and out.  Bought an old digger and dug out roadways and hard standings and laid electric cable and water below and only needed the electrician to wire up and sign off the installation.  Over the years we have moved with the times and now have fully serviced pitches and business continues to increase. With the increase of Motorhomes being on an hourly bus route, a cycle route and having both a cafe and a good fish and chip shop within a mile from us is a great bonus.  I would comment that there is a need for the simple basic non electric site for some members but if you want good occupation rates in all weathers then you need facilities.  As far as income goes it can be a good hobby earner, but if we were to charge for our hours of labour taking bookings through to cutting grass then it would show a minus but as a retired couple we have the pleasure of meeting many lovely people who have become our friends.

David  www.perthshirecl.co.uk

Members I hope are suitably grateful David, thank you.👍

We certainly are, Thanks David, and I hope that you continue to get more and more visitors.

If you value CLs: please use them, be grateful for they provide and do not make too many demands on land-owners to add extra facilities that require planning permission. The 5-van limit was put there as a concession to make things easier for land-owners, not more difficult.

Probably the most thought provoking quote on the thread! However, the 5 van limit really ought to be looked at- there are over a million of us and upping the limit to say 7 or 8 would do 2 things. It would allow many more pitches to be enjoyed and CL owners to at least be on the right side of the balance sheet! 

You need to lobby your MP, Merve, but I see bigger sites attracting attention from NIMBYs and officialdom. I’d say leave well alone. 

Unfortunately, that is the dilemma faced by CL's and their users.

"Despite what 'off-gridders' might say, this tells me that electric hook-ups are important for a CL to survive."....

yet, on another CL thread we have the owner telling us the 'guests' we're using £7 worth of electric a night  in chilly January....

and as owners can't charge more then it costs, that's a sizable slug of the nightly fee....add a tenner for 'everything else' (perhaps the level for a non EHU CL?) and that's £17 a night, which must be edging towards the very upper CL charging levels?