Oxfordshire County Council
On 18th September 2006 Oxfordshire County Council provided the following information:
Please note that Oxfordshire County Council is only directly responsible for the management of two off-street parking areas in Oxfordshire. These are both Park & Ride sites around the City of Oxford itself, namely at Water Eaton and Thornhill. All other off-road parking areas in Oxfordshire are managed by the relevant District Councils.
1. Height restrictions. High sided vehicles are permitted at both Water Eaton and Thornhill Park & Rides. However Thornhill Park & Ride is currently undergoing modernisation including the provision of a waiting area, toilets, clear parking areas for disabled drivers and parking for mothers and babies. Therefore during these changes parking for high sided vehicles will not be permitted at Thornhill. This is an indefinite restriction. Please note towed Caravans are not permitted at either Park & Ride site.
The height restriction at the Park & Ride sites is 2.1 metres (6 feet 11 inches). On arrival to the entrance of the Water Eaton site, high sided vehicles are restricted by a cross bar which must be unlocked by a Customer Care Operative (CCO), this can be done if the vehicle user or passenger approaches a CCO and asks them to unlock the bar. Access to and from the Water Eaton site is permissible while CCO are on site, which is during operational bus times (7.00am – 7.00pm) after 7.00pm the cross bar is locked and security reverts to CCTV.
2. Requirements for parking within bay confines (including any requirement for purchasing two parking tickets where the length of a vehicle means that it overhangs a second bay at its rear). There are approximately 6 parking spaces at each Park & Ride site. Oxfordshire County Council does not charge for parking at Park & Ride sites, therefore a Pay & Display ticket is currently not required. Please note parking spaces cannot be reserved at the Park & Ride sites.
3. Any provision of toilet and waste disposal facilities. Water Eaton Park & Ride has a waiting room with toilet facilities, however this is locked when the CCO leave the premises. There is no provision for waste disposal as the Park & Ride sites are predominately for visitors to Oxford and not intended as a long stay car park.
4. Any provision of spaces specifically aimed at motor-homes and /or caravans. Please see the response to question 2.
5. Any provision for (or ban on) overnight parking. Motorists are permitted to leave vehicles at the Park & Ride sites for a maximum of 72 hours however camping is not allowed.
6. Restricted access caused by narrow roads/entrances. Please see the response to question 1.
Oxfordshire County Council have parking details/links for the county on their web site.
Cherwell
On 3rd September 2008, in response to a follow-up request, Cherwell District Council provided the following updated information (originally provided on 9th October 2006):
1. The Council currently has height restriction barriers at three of its car parks, Compton Road, Banbury and Cattle Market, Bicester both set at a nominal 8' 0" (2.4 metres).and Riverside, Banbury set at 2.6 metres. It may, however, erect further height barriers elsewhere if circumstances dictate. These would be set at 8' 0".
2. The Council has a policy of excluding commercial vehicles over 1.5 tonnes from its car parks. The Council would expect drivers of motorhomes and caravans during charging hours to purchase pay-and-display tickets for each bay that is fully or partially occupied. Other restrictions that may apply to Motorhomes and caravans include:
· A driver of a vehicle using a parking place shall not park the vehicle in any position other than within a parking bay indicated as being reserved for vehicles;
· The driver of any vehicle which is constructed or adapted for drawing a trailer or caravan shall not within any parking place cause or permit such trailer or caravan to be unhitched from the vehicle;
· The driver of a vehicle which together with its load the width of which exceeds 2.9 metres or the length of which exceeds 15.5 metres shall not use the parking place except with the prior written consent of the Council;
· Except with the written authority of the Council, no person shall use a vehicle, or anything towed by a vehicle while it is in a parking place, for camping, eating, sleeping or other domestic purposes or as a place of habitation.
3. There is no provision for toilet or waste facilities at any of the Council's car parks. Some car parks do have a provision of small litter bins.
4. The Council has no spaces reserved or designed specifically for long or wide vehicles
5. There is no ban on overnight parking at any of the Council's car parks provided the vehicle is of an authorised class and subject to the following restriction:
· Except with the written authority of the Council, no person shall use a vehicle, or anything towed by a vehicle while it is in a parking place, for camping, eating, sleeping or other domestic purposes or as a place of habitation.
6. The Council does not believe any of its car park entrances would preclude access by medium sized motorhomes. They are designed to exclude HGV's and the like, and therefore some larger motorhomes may find themselves unable to access some of the Council's car parks. Height restrictions are clearly marked at the relevant sites.
Note: The above information applies to the Council's car parks only. There are other car parks within the District available for public car parking but operated by the private sector to which the foregoing remarks may not necessarily apply.
Cherwell District Council have further details on their web site Here.
Users of this web site have provided the following information:
Bicester
1) Thought we should bring the exceptional parking service we received at Bicester Village Outlet Centre to your attention. We arrived early afternoon on a Sunday when it was very busy and vehicles were being turned away from the Village car park to a multi-storey park so we thought we'd have no hope. However, the car park attendant waved us through and we were directed to a long vehicle parking area where another attendant took over and moved cones for us to double park with delivery vans. He took our mobile phone number in case the lorry behind us needed to depart before we had returned. On our return he stopped the traffic to ensure we pulled out safely and then replaced the cones in wait for the next motorhome! It was a refreshing experience after a weekend of encountering height barriers and narrow bays! (Thanks to JD for providing this information on 27 February 2008).
2) I thought you might like to know that Bicester shopping village is most welcoming to motorhomes and will park you in the coach park, any length and the security guys keep an eye on the vans, not a bad place to stop for coffee on route. (Thanks to WB for providing this information on 20 June 2010).
Oxford
On 23rd October 2006, Oxford City Council provided the following information, all of which applies to a single location - Redbridge Park And Ride:
1. Height restrictions none but there is a gate which is locked/unlocked by onsite staff.
2. Special area to account for size of vehicles fee 60 pence per visit.
3. No provision for toilets/waste disposal.
4. We only allow Motorhomes at one location at Redbridge Park And Ride.
5. No overnight sleeping or cooking on site.
6. Good access.
On 16th September 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council confirmed that the above information was still accurate, with the exception that the charge for parking is currently £1. In addition, from October 1st, Oxfordshire County Council will be running the Park and Ride car parks, and there will be no charge for parking.
Oxford City Council have further details on their web site Here.
Users of this web site have provided the following information:
1) Redbridge; staff will lift barrier in and out, bus to town centre. (Thanks to SL for providing this information on 19 July 2006).
2) All Park & Ride car parks have height barriers with the exception of Redbridge (south of the city) which has some dedicated motorhome parking spaces - free! In the city centre, Worcester Place car park (off Worcester St.) is barrier free, so is the parking areas each side of St Giles. This information obtained February 1999. (Anon)
3) On a recent visit to Oxford we used parking at Water Eaton P & R. There is an area reserved for 'high sided vehicles'. It is protected by locked gates, which the on site car park attendants will unlock on request. No charge for the parking, you pay on the bus. (Thanks to PA for providing this information on 19 December 2007).
4) For many reasons Oxford discourages MH owners...see the Oxford City Council web site Here. Oxfordshire County Council allow controlled parking at two P&R sites...Redbridge in the south and Water Eaton to the north. See the Oxfordshire County Council web site Here. Redbridge is easily found immediately off the ring road. Water Eaton is not accessible from the A34 but is on the Banbury Road south of Kidlington. If you have to come my advice to MH owners is only approach the city centre via the Banbury, Woodstock or Abingdon Roads (north and south approaches off the ring road) and definitely NOT from Headington, Iffley or Cowley Roads (to the east). I had to move my son this Weds and Thursday using a hired panel van...it was...an interesting (!) driving experience from where we live in the north of the city to the east. (Thanks to ES for providing this information on 16 October 2009).
South Oxfordshire
On 24th October 2006, South Oxfordshire District Council provided a spreadsheet of car park details. This can be download in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format from here.
The council pointed out that the question regarding restricted access is difficult to answer as it would clearly depend on the size of motorhome, and the Council does does not have information regarding the actual width of approach roads and entrances.
South Oxfordshire District Council have further details on their web site Here.
Update 26 June 2007:
Some time after the initial reply from South Oxfordshire District Council above it came to my notice that many other vehicles (e.g. large 4x4s) weigh in excess of 1.5 tonnes (some of the largest 4x4s even being heavier than many motorhomes). A further request for information was sent to the council asking for clarification. In response the council stated "The car park Orders have now been updated from 8 May 2007. The permitted classes of vehicles in most car parks is not exceeding 3.5 tonnes (70cwts) unladen weight. However some vehicles allow for heavier HGVs ie Cattlemarket car parks in Wallingford and Thame. The car park inspectors are not given any formal instructions and we have not issued any excess charges for being over the unladen weight. We now find that vehicles over this weight do not fit into a regular car park space and so we are more likely to issue an excess charge for being out of bay."
On 7th May 2009, in response to a follow-up request, the council provided the following information:
In reply to your questions, we would direct motorhomes to official campsites in South Oxfordshire. They would only be allowed to park in our pay and display car parks if they fitted into a normal car parking space and respected the normal parking restrictions. None of our car parks allow eating/sleeping overnight.
Users of this web site have provided the following information:
Henley on Thames
The last time we visited Hambledon Mill (on the Thames, near Henley), several years ago, we found the visitor car park - some 200 yards up the lane to Fawley - had a height barrier at 6 ft something (Our Renault Rainbow Traffic is 8ft 3 in).; This information obtained November 1998. (Anon)
Vale of White Horse District
On 26th September 2006, Vale of White Horse District Council provided the following information:
The only car park within the Vale that allows overnight staying is Rye Farm Coach and Lorry Park at a cost of £7.00. Unfortunately there are no facilities in there. There is a public toilet across the road at Hales Meadows car park.
All drivers must purchase tickets for the number of bays they take up, for example if the motor home is parked over 2 bays then 2 tickets must be purchased, if its over 3 bays then 3 tickets and so on.
We have public conveniences in Hales Meadow and West St Helen Street Car Parks in Abingdon, Portway in Wantage and Southampton Street Car Park in Faringdon. There are also toilets in the Multi Storey in Abingdon but as we have a height barrier there motor homes/caravans would not get in.
Motor homes/Caravans would not be allowed to stay overnight in any of our car parks apart from Rye Farm.
We do not have any specific car parks just for Motor homes/Caravans. The weight restriction in all our Pay and Display areas is 30cwts, unladen (apart from Rye Farm Coach & Lorry obviously).
Vale of White Horse District Council have further details on their web site Here.
Update 21 June 2007:
Some time after the initial reply from Vale of White Horse District Council above it came to my notice that many other vehicles (e.g. large 4x4s) weigh in excess of 30 cwt (some of the largest 4x4s even being heavier than many motorhomes). A further request for information was sent to the council asking for clarification. In response the council stated "The 30cwts weight limit relates to commercial vehicles described "motor vehicles constructed or adapted solely for the purpose of carrying goods" in our Parking Orders. Accordingly, there is no weight restriction for private motor cars; motor cars are defined (Section136 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984) as "constructed solely for the carriage of passengers and their effects, is adapted to carry not more than 7 passengers exclusive of the driver", and this, encompasses the MPV and other vehicles which you describe. Clearly, our car parks, with the exception of Rye Farm Lorry and Coach Park, have not been designed to accommodate caravans, motor homes and the like. The car park spaces and circulation routes are not of a suitable size to accommodate these vehicle without compromising health and safely. It is because of this that our Parking Orders provide a restriction to this use."
On 23rd April 2009, in response to a follow-up request, the council provided the following information:
The Vale of White Horse District Council deals with the off-street parking only. None of our car parks are suitable for Motor homes, other than Rye Farm Commercial car park. Under our Parking Orders, these specifically exclude the use of our car parks for over night parking. The only exemption is the Coach and Lorry car park south of Abingdon Bridge on the A145 where over night parking is available at £7.00 per stay.
Users of this web site have provided the following information:
Abingdon
Rye Farm - pay and display £7 for 24hrs as at 13/07/08. Park in coach and commercial vehicle section, behind car park (which has height barrier). Just on edge of town when heading south on A415, turn left into it just after crossing bridge over Thames/Isis river. WC across main road (pay). Just a few minutes walk into town centre (Interesting town, with markets and riverside walks, regular buses into Oxford). This location is included in the Camperstop Europe publication, as an overnight location and we used it as such a few days ago. Our parking ticket was checked by a warden whilst we were in the van (without comment)! (Many thanks to CR for this information, received on 17 July 2008)
West Oxfordshire
On 23rd October 2006, West Oxfordshire District Council provided a copy of their Off Street Car Park Order No.1 2005. This can be download in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format from here.
The council also provided the following information:
1. Height restrictions. – None at this time.
2. Requirements for parking within bay confines (including any requirement for purchasing two parking tickets where the length of a vehicle means that it overhangs a second bay at its rear) – although it is expected that you park in the confines of spaces there is no charging at any of our car parks at this time.
3. Any provision of toilet and waste disposal facilities. – We have Public Conveniences adjacent to or on some of our sites, but no specific provision for motorhome waste disposal etc.
4. Any provision of spaces specifically aimed at motorhomes and/or caravans. – None at this time.
5. Any provision for (or ban on) overnight parking. – Overnight parking is allowed at this time.
6. Restricted access caused by narrow roads/entrances – not that we are aware of, however, we do not hold any information on this specific subject.
On 30th September 2008, in response to a follow-up request, the council confirmed that the above information was still accurate, with the exception that the vehicle weight limit has been raised to 3500kg. In addition, the council stated: We have no larger bays for Motorhomes and do not allow parking across multiple bays. Our Parking Order prohibits the use of car parks for overnight camping etc. All car parking in West Oxfordshire continues to be free of charge but time limits apply.
West Oxfordshire District Council have further details on their web site Here.
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Last updated: 24 June 2010