Price rise

To be honest I think that the overuse of Electricity could be one of the main reasons.  I won't go into this too much but the newer vans have more and more electrical features these days which the owners want to use.  Electricity is not cheap and keeps going up in price.  Meters are expensive to install but would be fairer to the CL owners who can end up with whopping bills by some folks who abuse the use of extra fires etc. Leaving the frugal Members a more reasonable price to pay.

Dianne

As long as the price of a CL reflects what it provides, I can't see any cause for dispute. For example, we've booked on a CL we've visited before in May. It's £20 a night for which we get a serviced HS pitch, toilet and shower, WiFi and the 2 dogs included - oh, and the most wonderful views over the surrounding countryside. We'd be paying more for a busy club site in the nearby town and considerably more for a commercial site about 400 yards down the road and without the views.  So I don't think our £20 a night is in any way unjustified.

Whilst we look, for bargains as much as anyone else we have never considered caravanning to be a 'cheap' alternative to other types of holiday so, as many have said it will come down to other factors.

We regularly use a CLthat is of the basic, tap and cess pit, type that at the last stay was £9 night. 

There are other CLs in the area that have EHU and we have tried them but stick with the basic site as it is app 350 yds to our daughters house.

We have invested in a solar panel to make stays more manageable and  would imagine that the required investment to provide EHU, not to mention managing its use,would never see a return within any reasonable time frame.

I only use CL's these days, due entirely to the cost of club sites having risen in price to the point that I find unreasonable.    So I have made a point of discussing the future with several CL owners to find out what concerns them.

As you would expect there was no single cause of dissatisfaction amongst their number, but there was one factor that was very common in discussion & that was the 5 van limit.

The common theme was that for many of them the season was quite short, so in order to justify laying up a reasonable sized parcel of land, keeping the grass mowed, proving EHU (deemed as almost essential now) and water, also Elsan disposal etc.  Income needed  to be concentrated into just a few weeks.  But the 5 van limit was being seen as a serious handicap to making that return on investment possible.

It was recognised that the CC (I will not accept the new title) was not at fault in this restriction but there was a perceived lack of interest by the CC in lobbying Govt to increase the permitted number. They seemed not to be expecting a huge increase but the figure 8 or 10 seemed to be most common.

A number seemed to be toying with the idea of moving towards becoming a small commercial site instead.

TF

I don't know the details but do the C&CC CS sites permit tents/trailer tents in addition to 5 'vans? 

Yes they do - I believe it's up to 10 tents in addition to the 5 vans.  We joined the C&CC just to use a CS near Malton which is on a farm / equestrian centre - in a tranquil orchard with stream running through and a stunning new shower/toilet block.  The owner, reluctantly, had to put up his charge from £15 to £16, last year because he hadn't realised he was going to be hit by business rates - another burden some sites have to bear.  I agree with others who regularly use CLs/CS's - I'm fortunate enough at my stage in life not to be too concerned about the cost - it's whether or not you perceive it as value for money and it's where you want to be to relax.  I'd happily pay up to £20 per night if the site justifies it - and a lot of that has to do with having space around you and not being herded in - as on some other larger sites - CC and C&CC included!

We use the Haven site in Portmadog cheap and a full service pitch hardstanding all for less than £12.00 a night.

All during the time that families can get there also

Watch out for the price increase just as soon as Haven read this! 

Hi tigerfish, another way to view this is that there is no 5 van 'limit' rather an exemption from having to apply for a licence if you only take up to 5 vans.

I admire those who provide the opportunity for us, as members, to get away to places that would otherwise be unavailable but have never been on a CL that appeared to be anything other than a 'sideline'.

We keep our van in storage on what was a C&CC CS and they became a registered/licensed site due to demand and I am sure that they would feel aggrieved if their investment was rendered worthless by an increase in numbers for sites that did not have to meet the same standards.