Steamer Quay Upgrade
171 replies
LLM replied on 31/12/2023 14:59
Posted on 31/12/2023 14:05 by young thomasI certainly get your point, LLM, however on (say) a two week stay with site showers, after arriving with a full tank, we would only require one half tank top up as we can usually manage upto 10 days or so with one full tankful.
so if i topped up with that half a tank once during the 14 days, i would have paid £68.60 extra (on top of the CAMC pitch fees) for the 'pleasure' of 5 minutes with a hose pipe...now thats a mightily expensive half tank of H2O. Not even Bristol Wessex Water can get close to that.
with the amount of grey water generated being around 2/3 of the fresh intake (not everything coming into the van goes into the grey tank) we probably would only need to empty once on the way out, so again no requirement for a waste outlet on the pitch.
i realise that not everyone has largish tanks or is (perhaps) as naturally frugal with water as we seem to be, but the 'equation' still stands for many other MH but perhaps at a lower level..its that level that will get weighed against the weekly SP charge of £35 or so.
now, if the club let me use the hose on a SP once during during the two weeks (id promise not to use it again) then id happily consider paying £4.90 for the privilege but i wouldn't pay £4.90 for each of the other 13 days when i wouldn't be using the tap or drain...
...but as our UK touring doesn't involve being on a site longer than a week at a time, we have no requirement for SP.
this then brings us back to SQ and whether its 'fair' to have made the site all SP?
im sure some will love having an SP, some will love the location and just stump up the extra £35 a week, helping the Club recoup its 'considerable outlay' more quickly.
..but for some, like us, the 'surcharge' for a service that wont be used at all is a surcharge too far.
so, nice as the site will surely be, we wont be using it, especially as its likely to be similarly priced to BW, which is now between £38.60 and £56.50 a night WITHOUT an SP....
add that fiver a night for those shiny new SP and.....
surely a CAMC site cant hit £60+ can it?
Posted on 31/12/2023 14:59
I agree with you YT. If you are using the site facilities there really is nothing to stop an extended stay without having to visit the MHSP for quite some time and certainly no reason to pay the extra for the use of a full service pitch.
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DavidKlyne replied on 31/12/2023 15:30
Posted on 31/12/2023 15:30
So the question is that if starting from scratch how would you design a small site in order to get the maximum out of it. I don't think you would start off with grass pitches without electricity, which is what SQ was essentially before the refurb. If you wanted it to be open all year you would certainly have all weather pitches. Given that its such a small site the option to make those pitches fully serviced makes sense in my view. The Club were going to do the same at Northbrook Farm in Worthing until the local council pulled the rug from under them. The Club know full well that sites in the centre of towns and cities are very popular, be that York, London, Edinburgh, Bristol and now Totnes. I can't see any shortage of visitors, I just wonder how long it will be before we get complaints that the site is fully booked all the time? It won't be for everyone, as indeed it wasn't when it didn't have electricity but I would suggest it opens up as a option for far more people by the way it is being designed. Personally I like the idea of being able to fill my kettle with fresh water without having to walk half a mile and even better I like to drain my waste tank so when I am ready to leave the site I can just drive out be on my way.
David
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peedee replied on 31/12/2023 15:43
Posted on 31/12/2023 15:43
Given that its such a small site the option to make those pitches fully serviced makes sense in my view.
It would make perfect sense it the plans did not include a toilet block. Many sites which have a majority of fully serviced pitches do not pay so much attention to providing facilities blocks making just a limited provision. I have no knowledge of SQ but I assume the existing facilities block, which is to be refurbished, was adequate for the number of pitches?
peedee
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peedee replied on 31/12/2023 15:52
young thomas replied on 31/12/2023 16:28
Posted on 31/12/2023 15:30 by DavidKlyneSo the question is that if starting from scratch how would you design a small site in order to get the maximum out of it. I don't think you would start off with grass pitches without electricity, which is what SQ was essentially before the refurb. If you wanted it to be open all year you would certainly have all weather pitches. Given that its such a small site the option to make those pitches fully serviced makes sense in my view. The Club were going to do the same at Northbrook Farm in Worthing until the local council pulled the rug from under them. The Club know full well that sites in the centre of towns and cities are very popular, be that York, London, Edinburgh, Bristol and now Totnes. I can't see any shortage of visitors, I just wonder how long it will be before we get complaints that the site is fully booked all the time? It won't be for everyone, as indeed it wasn't when it didn't have electricity but I would suggest it opens up as a option for far more people by the way it is being designed. Personally I like the idea of being able to fill my kettle with fresh water without having to walk half a mile and even better I like to drain my waste tank so when I am ready to leave the site I can just drive out be on my way.
David
Posted on 31/12/2023 16:28
David, ive got no problem with the club upgrading to all weather pitches for a site thats going to be open all year, it makes perfect sense...
but then again, not everyone in summer requires an EHU (we certainly don't) and, to a degree, the club has recognised this with the metering trial, giving folk the option to use (and pay for) what they need...perhaps the refurb of SQ could have included metering from the off?
Similarly, not everyone needs/wants a fully serviced pitch, so what we have at SQ is the continuing cycle of rising prices where customers at SQ will be charged SP prices even if they only use the tap sparingly or even not at all.
"Personally I like the idea of being able to fill my kettle with fresh water without having to walk half a mile and even better I like to drain my waste tank so when I am ready to leave the site I can just drive out be on my way."
we certainly don't walk half a mile to fill our kettle, the kitchen tap is just a couple of feet from it....🤷🏻♂️
....and if the MHSP were sited sensibly, then it wouldn't be any hardship to pause for a few minutes....and considering that you cant get to a club site till one o clock, is there a rush?
Failing that, its not that difficult to empty a wastemaster when emptying the toilet cassette, they're designed to fit together and be wheeled as one.
emptying the cassette is virtually the last thing we do before leaving, so the last of the grey water could be dumped at the same time...
Yes, its all about convenience and some 'value' that more highly than others might do.
it depends whether one thinks £35 a week is good 'value' for the full use of an SP or even to fill a kettle..
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ScreenNameF407C5A994 replied on 31/12/2023 17:24
Posted on 31/12/2023 17:24
Visited Steamer Quay a couple of days ago, not sure if it's been in the posts but the site has been empty for a year. It's all grown up and unkept.
Looks like it could have remained open for 2023 as there is no building work, pitches remain the same but long grass everywhere. I can understand why they want to go for all weather pitches with EHU etc as it is a bigger money earner. But they could have earned money all year if they'd kept it open in 2023.
Tinwheeler replied on 31/12/2023 17:34
Tinwheeler replied on 31/12/2023 17:47
Posted on 31/12/2023 17:47
YT, it’s horses for courses. Clearly SQ (or any club site?) isn’t for you but it’ll suit others just fine. Can’t we accept that folk have different needs and likes regarding sites? I know you’ve been to a few that I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole but that’s fine as nobody is forcing me to. 👍🏻
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SteveL replied on 31/12/2023 18:00
Posted on 31/12/2023 18:00
Similarly, not everyone needs/wants a fully serviced pitch, so what we have at SQ is the continuing cycle of rising prices where customers at SQ will be charged SP prices even if they only use the tap sparingly or even not at all.
Being all service pitches there won’t be any standard pitches to reference the price to. Therefore it will be interesting to see at what level they fix prices. I am afraid YT you are going to have to accept that a lot of us like service pitches, even if it doesn’t make economic sense and the club is unlikely to have a problem filling them.
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Cornersteady replied on 31/12/2023 18:18
Posted on 31/12/2023 18:18
Similarly, not everyone needs/wants a fully serviced pitch, so what we have at SQ is the continuing cycle of rising prices where customers at SQ will be charged SP prices even if they only use the tap sparingly or even not at all.
Well perhaps I'm being too simple here but if one doesn't want a SP just don't go there YT and then you won't be charged anything?
As posted SP are popular with MHers
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peedee
Motorhomer