Campsites closing at the end of the 2024 season

but what does the likes on Nunnykirk need? Just a warden, bins emptying and grass cutting. Surely that’s not that expensive?

And people to go to it to pay for all that? If they don't, and they're not, then it's all a loss.

The caravan club used to be run by caravan people for caravan club members,sadly we are now getting in new "experts" who have never seen a caravan and are only interest in MONEY and not the views of the people who pay them ! remember its our money.

It seems that the not for profit ethos is out the window and spending the MEMBERS money on vanity projects is now very much to the fore,how can they justify spending millions on new sites at the expense of the older sites.

The club seem determined to turn perfectly good touring sites into holiday camps with sheds and tents everywhere,this is not the club i joined  over twenty years ago,i now only use my membership to access CL Sites.

CL sites only charge you for the pitch including two people the club charge for the pitch and one person so unless you want to leave your wife,partner,girlfriend at home its double the price just to stand on the same piece of grass.

Correct, it is not the club you joined 20 years ago but the world is not the same as 20 years ago either. CAMC has moved with the times by embracing the motorhomers amongst us (although we were always welcome), introducing camping pods and cabins, and modern technology. OK, CAMC is far from perfect but it has made the effort to keep up to date and attempted to attract younger members who are the future of caravanning. 

and not the views of the people who pay them ! remember its our money.

Well actually they certainly are, and not just views but in hard currency. People are not going to basic sites with no toilets, showers, EHU... they will note what is popular and what isn't.

I've been a member for 25 years and even back then it wasn't all grass back then but even then I always chose hardstanding, and a few years later service pitches came.

But you've found a perfect solution for you, you use Cls.

Are you serious

"CL sites only charge you for the pitch including two people the club charge for the pitch and one person so unless you want to leave your wife,partner,girlfriend at home its double the price just to stand on the same piece of grass."

It's only double the per person charge for two people, not double the whole price. That’s because people use water and facilities etc. CLs choose their own pricing system but often work out more expensive for a solo camper that a club site due to their pricing structure.

Part of the purpose (the primary purpose) of the club is to enable its members to enjoy all the beautiful areas of our country. This may mean that some sites in more remote, or less fashionable, areas will fail to make a profit but they are a vital part of the network all the same.
If it is the lack of a toilet block that is causing people to stay away, the idea must surely be to add one, rather than close the site down. There are already huge holes in the Club Sites network, now we have even more, it feels that the Club has lost its way.

How many more quiet and ideally located sites will be deemed surplus to requirements next year and the year after?

Aside from tourers, some of these sites have seasonal pitches and are in areas of high demand or where there is no other alternative, the only viable option for those no longer able to book a SP as a result of this decision is to sell their caravan, it is a terrible move by the CAMC “business”.

Thought this was a club not a money making company. If a site is failing surly they should be looking as to why and try improve it . Is this the start closing sites as what sites are they opening. It’s like the recycling idea of having central bin collection less for wardens to do so is the next step to get away from assistant wardens 

Frankly I’m not surprised the Club is closing underperforming and unprofitable sites. That’s sensible business practice. It can be compared with M&S which is in the middle of a similar programme, but as fast as they close stores like that they open new ones.

Now the Club tells me they are also doing that, and that here in Devon and Cornwall members now have Carnon Downs and Dornafield - but, but, but those are not new sites. They were there for years under previous ownership - well liked, well regarded and well reviewed - and some reports  are even saying they were rather nicer then than now.  And if some members didn’t use them then that was probably narrow minded prejudice at that time -  “Oh we never go to commercial sites, but we will go there now because they are Club sites”

So all the Club has done is change the label at the gate. M&S is opening really new stores in new locations,  but is the Club opening really new sites in new locations? Or just buying existing ones?

It's always unpopular when sites are closed and probably a bit  of a blow when several are announced at the same time as per Rowena's post. It's understandable for people to be upset but I think some have to put away the rose coloured spectacles. There are so many things to be considered. If the site is not owned by the Club and held on a lease, which many are, it is the length of that lease that determines whether any investment in better facilities will be recouped. The word profit has been mentioned but the Club has no shareholders to pay and any surplus is put back into the Club and Site network. Some suggest that these sites should be subsidised, the only problem with that in order to pay for that subsidy the prices of more popular sites have to increase and given the price pressures all sites are under it seems an unlikely course of action. Our hobby is changing and we may have been blindsided by that because it's probably in the early stages of change. It's just been announced that another well known caravan dealer has gone into administration with a loss of 63 jobs, how many more? In ten years time I suspect the club will look a bit different to it is now.

David