CL Price Rises

New staff members still get a site pass but it is now only valid while employed by the club where as in the past as with JK it is also valid for the years of employment subject to time worked each year for the years worked after leaving the clubs employment ,I understand even that has been eroded and restrictions applied

may be another reason winter cover of sites is more difficult it seems  as after a summer season of members why have more of the same when managers could be the other side of the site office counter  enjoying your staff pass while employed only🤔

So, to paraphrase in English….

New staff do get a pass, to use elsewhere, but only while in Club employment.

Existing staff still have a pass, but not on the same terms and conditions as previously.

I think I have got that now🤔

Just had a look at some of the new CLs that Maddie has put up in that thread.

I took a look at 1 that has opened not that far from ourselves and was surprised at a couple of things.

Firstly the price sticks out like a sore thumb. £22 p.n. no toilet or shower and a grass pitch. Secondly there is no information provided by the owner apart from copy and paste members offers out of the club website. No input whatsoever to entice the customer. There are 3 CLs within a 5 mile radius of this CL, all of which provide a shower and toilet, 2 of them also provide Hardstanding, one of them has Enhanced pitches and all seem to charge less than £20 p.n. In addition all have good reviews going back a number of years.

So, did the club advise the new owner to check local prices and competition and if so why did they not take any notice of them? Rhetorical question.

It seems to me that some owners just don't help themselves at all. Oh well, good luck to them. I think they'll need it.

We have just been on a new, this year, CL, all grass with EHU, and the owner had set his price at £15 pn. Talking to him last evening and he was way it that after having received his latest electric bill he is reluctantly having to up his price to £18 from September. However even at that price it is a site we will be returning to.

We stayed at a lovely cl in Wisbech two weeks ago. It was £17 a night. ehu, toilet/shower (designed for disabled), all harstanding and believe it or not a free washing machine. The owners were  lovely couple and quite philosophical about their prices and cl future. They are not in business for a profit but do make a small sum. Next year their price will rise by just £1 per night, nothing like some of the price rises we are seeing.

After hearing some of the comments on here and social media about suggested price structure from the club I was interested to hear that their cl inspector had suggested the installation of a drive over drain for motorhomes and suggested they could recoup the cost by charging more. I could tell from their body language what they thought of that. I  made no comment.

We would happily pay £25 a night for guaranteed hardstanding and the facilities you mention. Particularly if it had a drive over disposal.

I suspect many who use CLs will do as we do, search around for what gives us the best value in a location we like. If there up isn’t a CL, we will use alternatives where we can.
Once living with COVID becomes the norm, and more folks head off overseas again, things will settle down, and it remains to be seen how many of the newer CLs will have got their provision and pricing right. The younger generation of tourers are the future, not sure how many of these will be happy to pay some of the current prices, a good few members of our family tour in smaller more “hip” outfits and it’s all about location for them. None are inclined to join the Clubs. 

We are going to be back out in September, probably heading NE. Going to make up some kind of tour like we did in D&G, mix of provision. 

I wouldn't want CLs, especially grass sites, being encouraged to put in drive over wastes. I'm happy that CLs aren't Club sites and believe this sort of change can only push the price upwards.

There are many threads on here about Club prices and members moving to or sticking with CLs. I'd hate to see a trend where even these are gradually pushed beyond members' reach.

I certainly wouldn't be paying £25 for a CL...a washing machine might be useful for those on a long tour but hard standings can't be essential between May and September (main touring season) and most manage to discharge grey waste into hedges via a bucket, hose or other water carrier. Is a shower a necessity?

all these extra features might make a CL feel more Club like to those trying them out, but if it's pushing a price from, say, £17 to £25 then that's the equivalent of a 3 for 2 deal with folk being able to stay 50% longer at the lower price. That's a huge difference over a touring season.

The CLs are being advised by the Club. The Club caters primarily for its core Membership of getting older, wanting things as easy as possible, little to no physical effort on sites. It all costs money. You can only hope that those who invest heavily initially get the returns they need. 

I wonder how many CL customers (the ones that actually us and pay for the site) chat to the site owner about installing drive over wastes?

even for 'older members' adding a few more taps to reduce water humping for caravanners might help, but this is hardly ground breaking stuff.

adding showers, drive over wastes, washing machines etc is a different scale and will require investment that needs to be recouped.

is the cake worth the candle?