Motorhome Friendly and Unfriendly Parking

MotorHomeParking.Co.UK
Motorhome Friendly and Unfriendly Parking
The Site based on Official Statements from Councils and other organisations
with added contributions from Site Users

As some users of this web site already know, it will be closing in 2013. Details of why are now at the foot of this page. It has been suggested a number of times that the site might be taken over by a forum or other commercial organisation. That, however, is not practical. The site has always been provided free so councils do not charge a fee under the RoPSI regulations but they would charge if the site was linked to a commercial organisation. The total would be Ł20k+ pa in total, making it non-viable.
For those who are unaware, the RoPSI regulations exist to protect publicly held information (which is gathered, processed, stored and provided at taxpayer expense) from exploitation. Until FoIA (and other legislation such as the Representation of the People Act 2000) came in commercial organisations made a lot of money on the backs of taxpayers by obtaining information free or at very low cost, processing it at low cost (typically in China or India) and selling it on at inflated prices. RoPSI (and provisions of the RPA &c) stopped that abuse.

The main aims of this web site are twofold: to direct motorhome drivers to places where it is safe and legal for them to park and to direct motorhome drivers away from areas where they might encounter difficulties or cause difficulties for others. This is mainly daytime parking but the site also identifies some areas where overnight camping is allowed. This site does not, in any way, condone illegal camping.

The Start of The Project
This project started out when, just after purchasing our motorhome in June 2006, we came across the impossibility of parking in some towns or areas of them. The initial intention was to document both friendly and unfriendly places we came across or which we found out about from others.
It was subsequently decided that pro-active contact with local authorities would be more productive. Full story Here. Parking information on council web sites
This varies from nothing at all to a number of comprehensive pages.
The entry on this site for each local council area includes links to information on the councils' own web sites where information exists. Hopefully, in time, councils will include the type of information found on this site as a matter of course.
Links to council statements are Here. User Contributions
Approximately 475 users of this web site have sent in contributions since it was first created in 2006. They deserve the thanks of everyone using the site (approx 172,500 hits in 2012 alone).
Contributions from users of the web site have been included on the county pages with the council statements. Please note that where user information conflicts with that provided by councils it may well be that the situation has changed since the earlier contribution was received. If in doubt, check with the council.

Searching This Site
To search this site for a specific place or other term, click This Link Links
There are a number of other web sites with parking and camping information complementary to the information on this site. For links to them Click Here. Contact your own local council
Example letter templates for approaching councils can be found Here.

Overnight Camping in Car Parks &c.
The principal aim of this site was to identify places where motorhomes could be parked during the daytime and the vast majority of places listed on this site allow daytime parking only. There are some which allow parking but not camping (often defined as dwelling, sleeping and/or eating) overnight. This site used to contain a page listing those places where overnighting is allowed but lack of resources mean that it is not possible to keep the list up to date so it was decided to err on the side of caution and delete the page.
Information about Overnight Stopovers can be found on the UK Motorhomes web site Here and Here.
Any person or organisation offering overnight stops must do so in compliance with the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. For a brief analysis of the relevant parts of the Act Click Here. Parking (including Overnight) by major roads.
The majority of service areas on motorways and A roads allow overnight parking (often for a fee) but do not allow the use of naked flames (which includes on-board gas appliances). In addition, the majority of A roads have laybys, some of which benefit from an "island" which separates them from the road. Overnight parking is allowed in some laybys. (Thanks to AP for highlighting this on 6 May 2007).
The question of whether or not there is a right to camp overnight at the roadside and/or in a lay-by is one which is raised from time to time. In an effort to clarify the situation a request for information was sent to the Department for Transport. For details Click Here. Parking at Motorway Service Areas
A user of this web site reported that a motorhome had been clamped because the driver parked it in the wrong place at a MSA. One of the minimum requirements which Motorway Service Area operators must provide is free short term parking for all types of vehicle. A request for clarification was sent to the Highways Agency. Requests for information were also sent to the four major MSA operators. For details Click Here.

PoI sets for use on Sat Nav devices and with On-line Mapping.
The PoI sets previously available for download from this web site have become out of date so have been removed. Downloading Adobe Acrobat Files.
Some information available through this web site is downloadable in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. Most recent computers have Adobe Acrobat Reader software pre-installed. If you do not have it installed you can download it from Adobe's web site Here. www.motorhomeparking.co.uk on CD
In view of the decision to process no further significant updates, copies of this web site are no longer available on CD.

Copyright Statement
In the absence of any indication to the contrary, the web site design, graphics, text and all other materials and arrangement thereof contained within this web site are held under copyright. No part of this material may be stored, transmitted, re-transmitted or reproduced in any form or medium without the permission of the relevant copyright holder. Permission is hereby given for information to be extracted from this web site (including printing and copying to computers for off-line viewing) for personal use free of charge. Copyright in information displayed on this web site supplied by public sector bodies remains with those bodies. Copyright in all other parts of this web site remains with Graham Hadfield.
© G. J. Hadfield 2006 - 2012

At the end of December 2006, requests similar to those sent to local authorities were sent to the categories of organisations listed below.
Contributions from users of the web site have been included on the county pages with the council statements.

National Park Authorities
Responses received will be found Here.

Water Companies
Responses received will be found Here.

Tourist Sites
Responses received from public bodies and charities whose work involves a tourism aspect will be found Here.

Supermarkets
Any responses received will be found Here.

Some points to bear in mind:

Employees of local authorities and other organisations sometimes have high workloads and/or may not have been fully trained in the application of parking rules. In any dispute remain calm, make notes of events and take up the dispute with managers in a civilised manner at a later date.	In any car park, check any signs to ensure that your vehicle is allowed to park there. Where overnight parking is allowed in car parks there may still be a ban on sleeping/camping in the vehicle so check first.	In Pay & Display car parks it is always worth checking whether you need to buy more than one ticket if your MH overhangs into a second space - or (in any car park) whether overhanging the confines of a marked bay might result in a penalty charge.
Before attempting to enter any car park, especially in a larger motorhome, check that there is room to manoeuvre your vehicle safely and without danger to anyone.	Some information from contributors contains indications that overnight sleeping/camping in the vehicle is allowed. Such information has not been verified so check first to ensure that no laws are broken by doing so. This web site does not condone illegal camping as, overall, it works to the detriment of motorhome users.	Some information from contributors contains parking charges. These may have changed since the information was provided. Most pay & display payment machines only take coins, not notes, so make sure you have plenty of change. (Thanks to NC for highlighting this factor on 18 July 2009).
It is an unfortunate fact of life that some rural car parks suffer from anti-social use, fly-tipping and vandalism and that, as a result, they are locked overnight. If you think this might apply to a car park you are intending to use it is worth contacting the owner to check in advance.	The information in these pages is based on responses from local councils etc. to information requests and on messages submitted by users of the site. It is provided as guidance only and usage of the information is the responsibility of the individual site user. No responsibility will be accepted for the consequences of any inaccuracy in the information.	External web site links were checked at the time of update and a "broken link checker" is run from time to time. If any links are found to be broken then it is normally simple to find the replacement page by going to the council's home page and looking in the A to Z of Services or following the Transport link. Please let me know of any broken links.

The information is presented by area (just click on the appropriate link). Each page will open in a new window.
To search this site for a specific place or other term go Here.

England Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire (see also Manchester and Merseyside), Cornwall, Cumbria,

Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, (County) Durham (see also Teesside/Cleveland and Tyne & Wear), Essex,

Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent,

Lancashire (see also Manchester and Merseyside), Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, (Greater) London, (Greater) Manchester, Merseyside,

Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland (see also Tyne & Wear), Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland,

Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire (see also West Midlands), Suffolk, Surrey, (East) Sussex, (West) Sussex,

Teesside/Cleveland, Tyne & Wear, Warwickshire (see also West Midlands), West Midlands, Wiltshire, Worcestershire,

(East) Yorkshire, (North) Yorkshire (see also Teesside/Cleveland), (South) Yorkshire, (West) Yorkshire.

Northern Ireland (also includes User supplied details for Republic of Ireland), Scotland, Wales

Overseas

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The start of the Project

This project started out when, just after purchasing our motorhome in June 2006, we came across the impossibility of parking in some towns or areas of them. The initial intention was to document both friendly and unfriendly places we came across or which we found out about from others. Prior to going on holiday in August 2006 I obtained information from Herefordshire, Powys and Worcestershire councils (all of which were very helpful) and that gave the site a start.

Subsequent conversations with people we met on our travels revealed the fact that some local authorities were unco-operative when asked about parking for motorhomes, some even ignoring requests for information. I used to work as a Freedom of Information officer for a local authority so I knew that such responses were unacceptable. I decided, therefore, to contact all UK local authorities for information. An example of the e-mailed request can be found Here.

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It had been my intention to contact all councils in the country again in the last quarter of 2011 for a wholesale update of this web site.
Unfortunately, circumstances prevented me from doing so but I planned to undertake the exercise in the final quarter of 2012.

I then discovered, on 14th September 2012, that the Motorhome Parking PoI set offered for download from this site, for no charge, had been copied and made available for download on a forum called Camping Club UK with absolutely no attempt to acknowledge the ownership of the PoI set or the work which had gone into creating it.
I contacted the administrator of the forum to ask that the file be removed but all he did was attempt to justify his actions.

This is not the first time in the six years in which this web site has been running that I have suffered such plagiarism. I have, in the past, managed to overcome the breaches of copyright but it has taken a significant amount of my time to do so. I am afraid that I have better things to do with my life than put a great deal of effort into researching and publishing information only for others to then copy it and publish it without authorisation, thus causing me to have to waste my time trying to remedy the matter.

As a result I decided to take the content of this web site off-line as I no longer have the incentive to put in the significant amount of time and effort involved in research and publication when experience has shown that it is inevitable that somebody will just come and take the results and republish them as if they were their own.

In the days since then, however, I have received many messages of support so have decided to re-instate the content, as is, but without any significant further updates. This will inevitably mean that some information is/will become out of date.
The site will stay in existence in this state until August 2013 but will then close.
Perhaps, in the meantime, someone else will decide they have the inclination to put the effort in and will do the necessary research to create a site to do a similar (better, why not?) job.

I'm sorry if genuine users of the web site are inconvenienced but I hope they will understand my reasons for taking this action. However, I think it is true to say that all local authorities responsible for parking have parking pages, with contact details, on their web sites and some even publish information specifically for motorhome owners. It is reasonably easy to identify a local authority web site using Google or other search engine and I am sure that local authorities will respond to direct requests for information.

Finally, many thanks to those who have supported this web site with their contributions over the last six years.

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Last updated: 3 March 2013

The Start of The Project This project started out when, just after purchasing our motorhome in June 2006, we came across the impossibility of parking in some towns or areas of them. The initial intention was to document both friendly and unfriendly places we came across or which we found out about from others. It was subsequently decided that pro-active contact with local authorities would be more productive. Full story Here.	Parking information on council web sites This varies from nothing at all to a number of comprehensive pages. The entry on this site for each local council area includes links to information on the councils' own web sites where information exists. Hopefully, in time, councils will include the type of information found on this site as a matter of course. Links to council statements are Here.	User Contributions Approximately 475 users of this web site have sent in contributions since it was first created in 2006. They deserve the thanks of everyone using the site (approx 172,500 hits in 2012 alone). Contributions from users of the web site have been included on the county pages with the council statements. Please note that where user information conflicts with that provided by councils it may well be that the situation has changed since the earlier contribution was received. If in doubt, check with the council.
Searching This Site To search this site for a specific place or other term, click This Link	Links There are a number of other web sites with parking and camping information complementary to the information on this site. For links to them Click Here.	Contact your own local council Example letter templates for approaching councils can be found Here.
Overnight Camping in Car Parks &c. The principal aim of this site was to identify places where motorhomes could be parked during the daytime and the vast majority of places listed on this site allow daytime parking only. There are some which allow parking but not camping (often defined as dwelling, sleeping and/or eating) overnight. This site used to contain a page listing those places where overnighting is allowed but lack of resources mean that it is not possible to keep the list up to date so it was decided to err on the side of caution and delete the page. Information about Overnight Stopovers can be found on the UK Motorhomes web site Here and Here. Any person or organisation offering overnight stops must do so in compliance with the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. For a brief analysis of the relevant parts of the Act Click Here.	Parking (including Overnight) by major roads. The majority of service areas on motorways and A roads allow overnight parking (often for a fee) but do not allow the use of naked flames (which includes on-board gas appliances). In addition, the majority of A roads have laybys, some of which benefit from an "island" which separates them from the road. Overnight parking is allowed in some laybys. (Thanks to AP for highlighting this on 6 May 2007). The question of whether or not there is a right to camp overnight at the roadside and/or in a lay-by is one which is raised from time to time. In an effort to clarify the situation a request for information was sent to the Department for Transport. For details Click Here.	Parking at Motorway Service Areas A user of this web site reported that a motorhome had been clamped because the driver parked it in the wrong place at a MSA. One of the minimum requirements which Motorway Service Area operators must provide is free short term parking for all types of vehicle. A request for clarification was sent to the Highways Agency. Requests for information were also sent to the four major MSA operators. For details Click Here.
PoI sets for use on Sat Nav devices and with On-line Mapping. The PoI sets previously available for download from this web site have become out of date so have been removed.	Downloading Adobe Acrobat Files. Some information available through this web site is downloadable in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. Most recent computers have Adobe Acrobat Reader software pre-installed. If you do not have it installed you can download it from Adobe's web site Here.	www.motorhomeparking.co.uk on CD In view of the decision to process no further significant updates, copies of this web site are no longer available on CD.