28 day camping rule

[Pasty]

Anyone do this under PD for planning? We are considering it next year. Just 10-20 tent pitches and 1 or 2 hired shower / toilet blocks. We have a stunning farm and could also pen up some goats and chickens etc. This is probably a pre-cursor to a proper glamping set up but want to test the water on a budget first.

Does anyone do a pop up campsite like this and if so, how does it go? I've also heard you can move the site and get another 28 days in a different field. How far can you push this?

20 pitches at £15 a night for a month would be a nice little bonus. Just wondering how much of a nightmare it is. I would rather go high end with pods / cabins and fewer numbers but that will take a few years to set up I would have thought. We would like to have a farm walk, woodland walk and let them see all the animals I haven't yet got. Then flog them some meat, veg and eggs while they are here and as they leave.

 

[Chasingmytail]

great idea!- also watching this post to the hassle and nightmare aspects. Overheads with the loo/shower unit, rubbish disposal & water. Do you need to allow for some sort of gravel drive? Wonder what the average % occupancy would be. Nice bit of cash too!!!

 

[llamedos]

Dont think it quite so simple as it sounds, all the ones I know of have had to use caravan and camping club exemptions, they may be your best first port of call

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/gettingstarted/placestocamp/campinglegally/

 

[Pasty]

The 28 day rule is very vague and to me that means just crack on and by the time they are on to you, it's over. I've been involved in planning for many years but haven't come across this one. I would suggest that most planning departments are so stretched at the moment that as long as you didn't go over 28 days, it would be at the bottom of the pile.

 

[annonimouse]

@Pasty there is one on the cliff just beyond bedruthan steps. Just there for 6 weeks I think, looks to be around 20 pitches. No facilities just a portaloo and a brilliant view. Pretty sure he just did it......

 

[annonimouse]

Next time I'm passing I'll take a pic.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

I'm in a similar position but I am doing it backwards. I am building in the infrastructure first and establishing the site before I advertise for any visitors. I'm only looking at two pitches, both unusual too.
I have been involved with our local camp-site and they were advised to have notices everywhere to tell the campers what to do. This saves forever being hounded for 'where's this & can I' type Q's. They have had to put up a sign to request that broken tents & other unwanted items are not just dumped by the 'commercial waste' units. 'Tis a populat site for both tents & caravans/motorhomes.

I would say that if you have a pleasant spot with a top quality shower/loo/washing-up block you will have many years of repeat business!
Full planning may take some time but is worth it in the end, that's my opinion.
SS

 

[Barleycorn]

I think it would be far better if you had at lest one pitch for a campervan - then I can bring mine!! Just leaving Croyde, Devon, in it now heading home from our holidays!

 

[Pasty]

I'm in a similar position but I am doing it backwards. I am building in the infrastructure first and establishing the site before I advertise for any visitors. I'm only looking at two pitches, both unusual too.
I have been involved with our local camp-site and they were advised to have notices everywhere to tell the campers what to do. This saves forever being hounded for 'where's this & can I' type Q's. They have had to put up a sign to request that broken tents & other unwanted items are not just dumped by the 'commercial waste' units. 'Tis a populat site for both tents & caravans/motorhomes.

I would say that if you have a pleasant spot with a top quality shower/loo/washing-up block you will have many years of repeat business!
Full planning may take some time but is worth it in the end, that's my opinion.
SS

Do you mean 2 pitches as in 2 tents? Or campervans or whatever? We've got our eyes on a few of the self contained chalet type ideas up the top with a view and a bit of seclusion. They will have their own facilities and run longer through the year. Then we have a great big flat field with a stream and old oaks which would be a great place for tents in the summer hols and probably temporary shower / loos. Last time we went to the British GP the showers and loos were all trailers and they were fine. Quite posh in fact. Hire first and maybe look to buy if it goes well and hire out to others when we aren't doing it. Tent field is probably going to be a wild flower meadow so hay in late June, graze the aftermath and then tents in August once the cow pats have been consumed.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

I have a yurt pitched in a secluded area with a wild flower bank to stop the East and North wind. There's a picnic table and water there but I have still to do the cooking area/gazebo as I'm not really keen to have cooking smells in the yurt. There's a fire pit too. The children use this more than we do at present, which is nice.
Second pitch is yet to be organised except I have strimmed the area and have an old hay cart but haven't built the house on top yet. The cart is a 1930's conversion with the shafts made to fit a tractor from that era and with cast iron spoked wheels on rubber tyres. Possibly from a 1926 Morris Commercial T type. See the picture
I suppose I have enough space for two or three tent pitches that my extended family use and a mate has taken to visiting in his camper-van so we have space in the yard for that.
The facilities (Shower, loo & washing-up) are still only a paper drawing and that's the biggest hurdle to date. We do have an out-house with a loo in, so this works for now but I couldn't charge for that yet!
SS

 

[honeyend]

I am looking at this and also the 14 day event permission. Some of the sites I have looked at have suggested that the days are only from set up and take down, so I was thinking I would just cherry pick week ends and bank holidays. I have already got insurance for 7 tents.
Someone near me on a very open site has been running horse shows for the last month leaving the equipment in the field so it will be interesting to see how long it takes the PC to pick up on this.

 

[njw]

great idea!- also watching this post to the hassle and nightmare aspects. Overheads with the loo/shower unit, rubbish disposal & water. Do you need to allow for some sort of gravel drive? Wonder what the average % occupancy would be. Nice bit of cash too!!!

Interesting to see if anyone can shed some light on the costs of setting up a 5 pitch site from scratch,my feelings are it's going to be over £6000 for electric hook ups,toilets,shower etc

 

[crofteress]

I have a 20 pitch caravan site, it would never be worth the hassle for 7 pitches or less. I aim to be full all the time or again its just not worth the hassle. If you would like to know the hang ups I can tell you. I have been running the site for about 30 years. You must have a council licence and fire regulations, the 28 day rule is something nobody can get away with if you want to run an established site .You would need planning to get a licence. All in all its worth it if you have 20 pitches and they are nearly always full. There are a lot of overheads though and you must work dawn to dusk, and be very good with people

 

[surfingben]

Hi crofterness

I currently run a cafe and people think that is an easy gig, but don't realise the overheads and the hours that go into it all.

I have been looking at doing some sort of camping/glamping thing lately but trying to see how viable it all is what with the limited season we have in the uk. I would be very interested to see what your net profit margins are and what are the biggest killers e.g. Insurance, waste disposal, fire regs etc. Any comments on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pasty]

True of everything I guess. It's hard to see the costs before you do it. That's what worries me. I did our farm insurance renewal with CM the other day and our rep said they have a policy for the 28 day thing if we wanted to do it.

Crofteress, if you would be so kind, it would be interesting to hear in more depth the pros and cons. The costs you don't foresee. The aggro from kids breaking stuff. The cost of clearing up broken bottles etc. I'm OK with people and might be able to sustain it for 28 days if the money was there. Not much longer though unless they were paying through the nose and bought our eggs and bacon (lodges).

 

[happycows]

http://www.lovelandfarmcamping.co.uk/thepod.html

I hired some small straw bales for seating at a informal wedding here a few weeks ago. three or four acres in nice grounds, looked like a little gold mine.
They had the whole site for the weekend (4 pods) and had a marquee,band and hog roast. they had a right ball with everyone crashing in the pods or in tents on site. £1250 for the whole site for a long weekend. bargain for the couple too compared to some weddings. they done the lot for less than £4k.

 

[Blue.]

How hard is it to get planning for a pod/wigwam site?

I have a family member thinking of setting up with a dozen or so pods,he has an excellent site but I'm sure planners won't like it.

 

[llamedos]

How hard is it to get planning for a pod/wigwam site?

I have a family member thinking of setting up with a dozen or so pods,he has an excellent site but I'm sure planners won't like it.

Have a look at attached eulb

 

[Pasty]

On the planning front, in my experience, you might want to look at what you are offering rather than what you are asking for. This might mean local employment, public access for a certain time, other local benefits. If you want your parish council on side for a start you want to come up with an 'offer' rather than saying 'I'm doing this and you can't stop me'. So consider what you have and what you can offer. Do you have a woodland walk that can be public access while the camping operations are going on? Can you put a number of hours for cleaners / site managers or whatever that will involve local labour? This is the sort of thing they like these days. Create an image in their minds of happy families prancing through the bluebells, visiting the local shop and pub and while they do so, local folk have jobs sorting the cleaning etc.

 

[Breakthru]

Put your pods on skids so they are mobile, in inverted commas, that way the planning is not so difficult so I am led to believe