On 29th August 2006 Northamptonshire County Council provided the following information:
Northamptonshire County Council's Countryside Services provide the following countryside car parks: Barnwell Country Park near Oundle; Fermyn Woods Country Park near Brigstock Village; Irchester Country Park Near Wellingborough; Sywell Country Park near Wellingborough; Brixworth Country Park Near Brixworth; Brampton Valley Way - Former railway line from Northampton to Market Harborough with 5 car parks on route; Summer Leys Local Nature Reserve near Wollaston village (see below); Earls Barton Bends Picnic Site and canoe launch point near Grendon village.
None have height restrictions.
The Brampton Valley Way and Summer Leys Local Nature Reserve car parks are small with limited manoeuvrability and are best avoided by motor homes.
The country park main car parks are open 9 to 5 and large vehicles can gain access.
All of the country parks have public toilets but none have special caravan/motor home facilities.
Overnight parking is not permitted at any of the car parks.
Pay and display parking is in operation at all the Country Parks (except Brampton Valley Way).
On 24th October 2008 Northamptonshire County Council provided the information that Summer Leys Local Nature Reserve is now managed by the wildlife trust for Northamptonshire.
Northamptonshire County Council has further details of the country parks on its web site Here.
On 2nd October 2008 I was informed that Northamptonshire County Council is responsible for parking enforcement in much of the county. Details can be found on the county council web site Here.
Corby
An officer of the council telephoned on 4th January 2007 to say that car parks in Corby are all controlled by a private company so the council has no information to provide in response to the request sent to it.
On 8th January, Land Securities provided the following information:
We operate two car parks in Corby town centre.
A 550 space multi storey car park with access off Westcott Way that was erected in the 1960's and has very restricted headroom for cars & 4 x 4's. It is therefore not accessible to most motor homes.
A 220 space surface car park. Whilst this currently doesn't have a height restriction this is now under review.
On 21st November 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council provided a table of car parks and a table of on-street locations which are suitable/unsuitable for motorhome parking. This information can be download in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format from here. In addition, the council advised that there are a number of car parks in the Corby area which are not owned by the Council and that, in particular, the company ‘Land Securities’ may be able to advise on car parking in Corby town centre.
Corby Borough Council has further details of parking on its web site Here.
Daventry
On 1st September 2006 Daventry District Council provided the following information:
We do not allocate any specific provision for the type of vehicles that you describe. In fact 'camping' is prohibited in our Order.
(1) Height restrictions - there is a height barrier at Old Gas Works, at Chaucer Way and at the Country Park.
(2) In all cases (except the unmarked part of Chaucer Way and at the Country Park) all vehicles must be parking entirely within bay markings.
(3) No toilets/waste disposal (except general town centre public toilets).
(4) No spaces aimed specifically at motorhomes.
(5) No ban on overnight parking as such, but there is a restriction on 'camping'.
(6) Old Gas Works has very narrow entrances; Chaucer Way and St John's Square have tight areas/turns.
In short, Daventry's town centre car parks do not really offer suitable provision for motor homes, and the same applies at the Country Park.
On 8th January 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council confimed the above information and added the following notes:
All Daventry town centre car parks are designed predominantly for cars and small vans. Any larger vehicles will either struggle to negotiate the car park entrances, exits and access roads or will fail entirely. We do not allocate any specific provision for these vehicles, and ‘camping’ is prohibited in our Order.
Daventry District Council has further details of the car parks on its web site Here.
East Northamptonshire
On 2nd October 2006 East Northamptonshire Council provided the following information:
East Northamptonshire Council is responsible for a small number of car parks within the district. There are other car parks in private ownership, which the Council is unable to comment on.
The Council has a Parking Order in place for certain of our car parks in Rushden. These are: Duck Street car park (Long stay without height barrier); John Street car park (Long stay with height barrier); Newton Road car park (Long stay with height barrier); North Street car park (Long stay without height barrier); Rectory Road (Orchard Place) car park (Short stay max. 2 hrs with height barrier); Rectory Road (corner of Portland Road) car park (Long stay without height barrier); Splash Pool car park (Short stay max. 3 hrs without height barrier); Station Road car park (Long stay without height barrier).
This Byelaw states for all of these car parks, that the "class of vehicles permitted on parking spaces" is "motor vehicles constructed solely for the carriage of passengers..." Having consulted with our solicitor, this clearly excludes the use by motorhomes and caravans.
I have been informed by the person with responsibility within the Council for car parks that as far as he is aware, the remaining car parks in the Council's ownership namely: Crabb Street, Rushden; Sackville Street, Thrapston; Chancery Lane, Thrapston; Church Street, Irthlingborough and Herne Park, Oundle do not have any specific Parking Order covering their use.
In answer to the remainder of the questions:
Vehicles are required to park wholly within a marked parking bay, in car parks covered by the Parking Order. There is no provision for buying two tickets for a long vehicle which overhangs a second bay, as all our car parks are free anyway.
There is no provision for toilet and waste disposal in any of our car parks.
There is no provision for spaces specifically aimed at motorhomes, even in car parks they can access.
There is a ban on sleeping, camping, cooking and the servicing and washing of vehicles, in all car parks covered by the Parking Order. But no specific bans on the other car parks.
There is no restricted width to any of our car park entrances/exits.
On 29th July 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council confimed that the above information was still valid.
Kettering
On 12th September 2006 Kettering Borough Council stated "Kettering Borough Councils Pay & Display car parks are not suitable for motorhomes".
On 10th March 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council confirmed that this statement was still accurate.
Kettering Borough Council has details of the car parks on its web site Here.
Northampton
On 17th November 2006 Northampton Borough Council provided the following information:
1. There are height restrictions on all car parks, which will preclude access for motor homes.
2. One exception is Midsummer Meadow, Bedford Road, Northampton where access can be gained via a barrier controlled by CCTV. Motor homes/caravans will need to park in the coach bays at £8.00 per day. Caution - see update below.
3. There are toilet facilities on the Midsummer Meadow site.
4. Coach bays are available for motor homes/caravans to park on this site.
5. Overnight parking is allowed on this site.
6. Gate access is controlled by the Council’s CCTV department, which is open 24 hours, 365 days per year. Contact details for CCTV are displayed at the car park.
On 21st October 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the Council provided the following information:
Height restrictions vary between 1.8 and 2.3 metres.
The coach facilities (at Midsummer meadow) are strictly for coaches, consideration can be given for other large vehicles if permission is sought prior to using the facility.
The toilet facilities at Midsummer Meadow are now closed due to misuse.
Northampton Borough Council has details of the car parks on its web site Here.
South Northamptonshire
On 10th October 2006 South Northamptonshire Council provided the following information:
1. The one and only car park that SNC operates is in Richmond Road, Towcester, has a 1.9m or 6' 3" height restriction.
2. The car park is free to use therefore no parking tickets are required.
3. There are no toilets or waste disposal facilities in the car park. The nearest public convenience is approximately 200m away in the Somerfield car park, which is accessed off of Richmond Road.
4. There are no specific bays for caravans or motor homes.
5. There is a presumption against overnight car parking.
6. Access off of Richmond Road is okay, notwithstanding the height restriction the entrance into the car park is narrow.
Although this is the only car park this council operates in South Northamptonshire, there is further public car parking provision operated by the Brackley Town Council, Towcester Town Council and also a pay and display car park operated by the Towcester Masonic Hall just off of the Northampton Road in Towcester.
A further reply was received from South Northamptonshire Council on 14th November 2006:
As far as the Council is concerned, we only have 1 car park across the entire district and this is off of Richmond Road in Towcester. It is a free car park, has around 100 spaces, but is height restricted at the entry to vehicles over 6'3"/1.9m. This is obviously to exclude anyone setting up camp here, but unfortunately this does mean exclusion of day visitor's in motor homes, or whatever.
In terms of parking near the centre of Towcester, I can't think of many suitable alternative car parks. The market square has spaces, but these are extremely tight for even small vehicles, and this area is extremely busy with the main A5 still routed through the centre of Towcester. I would have thought the best place to park a motor home if visiting Towcester may be to park on the London Road, which is the old A43, which is quite a wide road upon which on-street parking is allowed, at least on one side.
Brackley, which is the other sizeable town in the district would also have problems accommodating large vehicles in the main town centre. The nearest alternative may again be on-street parking near the industrial area off of Buckingham Road.
All of the other `settlements' in the district are villages and hamlets of varying sizes, the vast majority of which would have difficulty accommodating large vehicles, again apart from possibly on-street parking on the main thoroughfares or within industrial areas.
I would point out that Billing Aquadrome, is very close to the district boundary, and I believe this offers parking/accommodation facilities for touring caravans and motor homes. The nearest village to this within South Northamptonshire village Cogenhoe (pronounced `cook-know') which is about 1.5 miles away.
I hope this reply is of some assistance. However, I should point out that this is purely off of the top of my head.
On 14th January 2007, requests for information were sent to Brackley and Towcester Town Councils.
On 15th January 2007, Brackley Town Council replied: "Sorry but you have been misinformed regarding Brackley Town Council having a car park. The only parking available in the Town Centre belongs to Northants County Council Highways. The other carparking belongs to Co-op Midshires and is controlled by them."
On 20th March 2007, Northamptonshire County Council provided the following information about the Brackley town centre car park:
1. No height restrictions.
2. Bays marked out for single car/van sized vehicles and no pay and display, so no ticket purchase required.
3. A public toilet at the northern end of the car park - no waste disposal facilities.
4. No spaces specifically for motorhomes or caravans.
5. Currently a two hour limit on car park - Mon to Sat 8am to 6pm. No limit other times/days.
6. There are three ways into this car park - one quite easy, the other two can be fairly narrow due to parked vehicles or road alignment. However it should be noted that the traffic regulation order refers to parking by "cars and motorcycles" only. The definition of "car" includes vans, but not buses up to 3.5T, however caravans (which aren't self-propelled) don't seem to be included so may attract a parking ticket.
On 26th March 2007, Towcester Town Council replied: "The Town Council do not have any car parks in Towcester under their ownership."
On 2nd October 2008, in response to a follow-up request, South Northamptonshire Council confirmed that the above information regarding the Richmond Road car park was still accurate.
South Northamptonshire Borough Council has parking information on its web site Here.
Wellingborough
On 6th November 2006 Wellingborough Council provided the following information:
All the public car parks in Wellingborough are currently free.
All vehicles are required to park within the confines of a space if they are small enough to do so. Currently we would not prevent a vehicle overhanging a bay if it is too big for the space as we have no charges and therefore we do not have enforcement except for the Multi-storey car park maintenance staff. However, if we saw bad parking we would make the driver aware of it.
Sleeping, cooking or camping in vehicles overnight is forbidden in all car parks.
All car parks have a height restriction of 2.05m except for about 50 spaces off the High Street car park, Wellingborough, which is available for use by Market Trader vehicles, and, currently, Sharman Road Car Park off Oxford Street, Wellingborough, which is managed by Morrison Supermarkets and has a three hour parking limit.
There are no spaces specifically aimed at motor homes or caravans at any of the car parks.
There are public toilets available off level 3B of the multistorey car park off Commercial Way, Wellingborough (at the entrance to Swansgate Shopping Centre), but there are no specific waste disposal facilities except a bottle bank at the exit. There is a recycling centre in the town at Finedon Road Industrial Estate in the east of the town.
Within the next twelve months it is likely that on-street parking charges will be introduced as part of the County Council's decriminalised parking initiative. The Borough Council's currently stance is to retain free off-street parking for the time being but if, in the future, this was changed and off-street parking charges were introduced, the policy regarding parking over more than one space would need to be considered.
On 17th September 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council confirmed that the above information was still accurate. The council added that on-street
charging was not, in the event, implemented in the Town Centre.
Wellingborough Borough Council has details of the car parks on its web site Here.
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Last updated: 16 April 2009