Freedom Camping Club

[Freedom Camping Club]

To clear up any confusion, The Freedom Club is a club for same gender couples and Freedom Camping Club ( us ) are predominantly for families but have no aversion to any group.

There is a significant amount of legislation covering rural areas, as an organisation we are not likely to be prosecuted by issuing a certificate to a site as the responsibility lies with the land occupier. However as a responsible organisation we do not consider it appropriate to put occupiers at risk or offer exemptions to sites if there is likely to be a significant effect to other parties.

Our assessment process examines the legal rights of sites to operate and considered environmental protection, ecology, visual amenity, community integration amongst other things.

In our short history we have been subject to a great deal of scrutiny from local authorities, members of parliament, legal professionals, local residents, parish councils and other groups. We have successfully defended our policies and protected sites against planning enforcement and other issues. Having had enforcement notices removed and quashed by the planning inspectorate.

This type of development is very contentious and we give a great deal of attention to operating with due diligence. We are not experts in every field and where our assessment identifies risks we may ask for a professional opinion, this may be an ecology appraisal, flood risk assessment, landscape and visual impact assessment, highway safety assessment etc.

In response to the post above, the proposed site is not within an AONB but lies within an area of Great Landscape
Value, National Character Area and World Heritage Site. A very sensitive visual area that requires a more detailed assessment than we can offer, hence the request for a LVIA.

If you wish to open a site where little consideration is given to the wider effects of the site, please consider one of the other clubs. However bare in mind that if you empty chemical toilet waste into a septic tank or small scale treatment plant you could face prosecution under environmental protection legislation, if you open a site within a high flood risk zone, contrary to EA standing advice you may invalidate any liability insurance policy, if you destroy habitat of protected species you could be prosecuted and serve a custodial sentence under the conservation of habitats and species regulations, if you have a bore hole water supply and don't have this risk assessed you could face action under the private water supply regulation. If you accept visitors who are not members of your other chosen club you may face prosecution under consumer protection regulations.

If you are like us and want to offer a valuable service, ensuring your site is safe, suitable and sustainable, please feel free to contact us.

Please feel free to comment on this post as we open to comments that can help us be more helpful to farm diversification projects. Please remember that there are many check and balances to satisfy, we can not simply offer freedom to operate regardless of the potential effects.

 

[B R C]

@Danllan cant see Beacon from home farm but have a bit of land very close, would take about 15 mins to walk to the top from it.
Decided to go for certified site, notice is posted at front of farm then need to get ready for Autumn to get in Caravan Club directory ready for opening next Easter, well that’s the plan.

 

[Still Farming]

LGBT certified is it?

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

LGBT certified is it?

Sorry, not getting your humour. It may seem funny to you but I don't think anyone else is on the same page. We do not descriminate positively or negatively against any group, all welcome including LGBT. We are all people, non of us the same, some more different than others, that is the world we live in. You and I are no better or have more value than anyone else.

 

[Still Farming]

Sorry, not getting your humour. It may seem funny to you but I don't think anyone else is on the same page. We do not descriminate positively or negatively against any group, all welcome including LGBT. We are all people, non of us the same, some more different than others, that is the world we live in. You and I are no better or have more value than anyone else.

Don't take that attitude.
Just a question that's all?
We are all new to this operation so like many sectors there are certification and advisory boards and groups.
You getting your back up ant doing your group NO favours!

 

[Pasty]

Don't take that attitude.
Just a question that's all?
We are all new to this operation so like many sectors there are certification and advisory boards and groups.
You getting your back up ant doing your group NO favours!

What agenda do you have here? This is a perfectly sensible thread where a rep from the business is answering and qualifying questions. A little humour is always welcome but I only see one person with their back up. This is about farm diversification and business. Maybe save the bulk of the humour for the off topic forum and don't trash sensible threads.

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

What agenda do you have here? This is a perfectly sensible thread where a rep from the business is answering and qualifying questions. A little humour is always welcome but I only see one person with their back up. This is about farm diversification and business. Maybe save the bulk of the humour for the off topic forum and don't trash sensible threads.

Again I apologies as I am just not appreciating you comments. Your previous response to another members comment relating to carry on camping were 'with the major'. I do not see how this is a sensible comment, it has no information value and only appears to be a derogatory slur on the efforts made by the club to assist farmers looking to diversify. As you yourself have now stated this is a sensible forum for meaningful comments, please keep it that way.

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

T

Again I apologies as I am just not appreciating you comments. Your previous response to another members comment relating to carry on camping were 'with the major'. I do not see how this is a sensible comment, it has no information value and only appears to be a derogatory slur on the efforts made by the club to assist farmers looking to diversify. As you yourself have now stated this is a sensible forum for meaningful comments, please keep it that way.

This reply is a response to the post by Still farming, not Pasty.

 

[Still Farming]

What agenda do you have here? This is a perfectly sensible thread where a rep from the business is answering and qualifying questions. A little humour is always welcome but I only see one person with their back up. This is about farm diversification and business. Maybe save the bulk of the humour for the off topic forum and don't trash sensible threads.

What Humor?
If you are farming you may or may not know about all the certification boards and assurance schemes ,also if you have bothered to diversify into tourist you may have heard of grading and Tourist boards,ratings certificates, inspections etc.
Also if you have gone into camping and caravan sites,then ,members inspections,basic ,requirements and standards ?
Why when some one asks a genuine question is it suppose to be a joke?
You don'tHave a go at others on here that seem it is a joke?
We are all interested and no offence given to @Freedom Camping Club .
With up coming groups ,gender,climate or vegan etc etc it is enviable more standards and regulations may or may not apply regarding their agenda ,advertising and implementations.

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

What Humor?
If you are farming you may or may not know about all the certification boards and assurance schemes ,also if you have bothered to diversify into tourist you may have heard of grading and Tourist boards,ratings certificates, inspections etc.
Also if you have gone into camping and caravan sites,then ,members inspections,basic ,requirements and standards ?
Why when some one asks a genuine question is it suppose to be a joke?
We are all interested and no offence given to @Freedom Camping Club .
With up coming groups ,gender,climate or vegan etc etc it is enviable more standards and regulations may or may not apply regarding their agenda ,advertising and implementations.

Ok, to prevent this thread getting off course I will accept that there have been some misunderstandings. To answer you question, no it is not an LGBT certification. The 2010 equality Act would prevent the desrimination of any group, or even the limitation to a group.

 

[Still Farming]

Ok, to prevent this thread getting off course I will accept that there have been some misunderstandings. To answer you question, no it is not an LGBT certification. The 2010 equality Act would prevent the desrimination of any group, or even the limitation to a group.

Any applied for in Wales yet or are you just an English club?

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

The

Any applied for in Wales yet or are you just an English club?

The club does hold exemptions for Wales, but as a new club in comparison we have limited infrastructure. The demand in England is overstretching this infrastructure and although we do intend to cover Wales soon, until our new admin members are fully trained we are limiting our selves to England only. It will also be more difficult to cover Wales as all our documents and info will have to be bilingual.

 

[Still Farming]

The

The club does hold exemptions for Wales, but as a new club in comparison we have limited infrastructure. The demand in England is overstretching this infrastructure and although we do intend to cover Wales soon, until our new admin members are fully trained we are limiting our selves to England only. It will also be more difficult to cover Wales as all our documents and info will have to be bilingual.

And the same for NI and Scotland is it for clarity ?

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

Unfortunately we are unable to offer exemption in NI and Scotland at present. Although our long-term goals are to cover the whole of the UK at present we do not have the resources.

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

For those who are considering diversification into recreational camping and caravanning I will try to demistifd the whole scheme, it is certainly not straight forwards and may challenge some of your perceptions.

There are around 500 exempt organisation in the UK ranging from small Friend groups to multi million pound corporate organisations. Not all are equal, of the 4 exemptions available some organisation hold just one and other hold more, but there are only a limited number that hold all 4 and a lesser number that accept open applications.

Essentially a land occupier looking to be exempt has the option of the caravan and motor home club, the camping and caravanning club, ourselves, the motor caravanners club and the greener club. These are roughly listed in size, by membership and sites.
Each of the clubs listed have different policies, goals and customer demographics, I wouldn't say any are better or worse, other than some will meet your goals better than others and the key is to choose the right organisation to work with.

Legally exempt organisations can issue an exemption certificate or make use of land without the need for a license, it is a criminal offence for a land occupier to permit the use of land as a caravan site without a licence or exemption, although you can allow tent camping for upto 42 consecutive day or a total of 60 days a year without a licence ( different rules apply in Scotland for tent camping ).

Exempt organisations can not authorise any development of the site.

When land is issued with an exemption or used by an exmpt organisation the land occupier is granted change of use planning approval by the secretary of state under class A and C of part 5 the general permitted development order, but only for the time that a valid exemption certificate or exempt organisation are using the site. You can use Class B Part 4 GPDO for change of use to a tent campsite for any 28 days in a 12 month period. You can not allow the use of a site for caravans under 28 day PD rights, this includes motorhomes and campervans.

When an organisations issue an exemption you are no longer required to apply for a licence from you local authority and providing the site qualifies for PD you do not need to apply for change of use to your local authority. An exemption certificate does not make you exempt from all other planning requirements or indemnify you from other acts which may be criminal or unlawfully.

Word of warning, Exempt organisations are not legally responsible for you land and any breachs of planning or offences, the responsibility and penalties are the land occupiers. Many of the required elements to start a camping and caravanning site can be covered by permitted development or likely to be de minimis, so you won't have to make a planning application but you should take care in knowing what is or isn't covered by PD.

So which club is right for you?

If you are looking to provide a field with water supply and CDP, you want as little involvement with visitors and don't want to do any other work such as marketing, you should choose the caravan and motorhome club. They have a large following that like this sort of site, although they like these sites because they are cheap and you won't get the pitch fees compared to other sites and you are limited to their members. We have dealt with a number of CMC sites in which we have declined applications, it doesn't seem that the club gives much consideration to the secondary legistlation, beware if you are in a sensitive ecological or environmental area, in a flood risk zone or under an Article 4 direction, it doesn't appear that this club checks these before issuing exemption and you could face enforcement or prosecution if you allow caravanning.

The CCC have similar policies and procedures to the CMC but allow camping for upto 10 tents. Again our dealings with former or current sites indicates not a great deal of due diligence is applied to their assesment process but some of the sites we now certify were assessed before relevent legistlation came into force. Hopefully they will be taking more care with current applications.

The motor caravanning club are for motorhomes and campervans. A recent experience demonstrated that they don't carry out any assessment and the site we dealt with they issued a certificate with out visiting. Possibly the easiest club to become certified with but make sure you do your own research of secondary legislation.

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

Don't take secondary legislation for granted. We visited a CMC site 2 years ago, were a sewage treatment plant was being used for chemical toilet waste, these chemicals were being discharged from the plant into a water course which lead to a large pond. We advised the site to stop this practise but had no further involvement with the site, so couldn't say if this continues. Allowing such chemicals to enter a water course could lead to a heafty fine under environmental protection or even 6 month in prison under the conservation habitats and species regulations.

The greener club appear to attract a more decerning environmentally conscious customer base but I have no experience of their policies or procedures so can't comment.

We offer all of the above and more, our membership is 16000 so puts us 3rd in terms of membership size I believe, However, although the CMC and CCC have around 300 000 members each we do not limit sites to members only therefore you have access to a market of millions. We pay keen attention to secondary legislation which means we don't accept sites that may be accepted by other clubs, we are also likely to request ecology appraisals, flood risk assessment, highway surveys or landscape and visual amenity assessments if you are in sensitive areas. This in not always required even for sites in National parks, AONBs local conservation areas etc. Our own assessment identifies these risks.

We expect site operators to be more involved with the running of the site including marketing but when a site can generate over £100,000 per annum, that expectation is fair.

Our aims are to develope a thriving cottage industry which is diverse and unique, if you want branding, cudos and to move along in the crowd try The CMC or CCC, if you want to advocate conservation choose the greener club, if you want a no questions asked site try the motor caravanners club. If you want something new exciting and rewarding and don't mind the hard work, we may be for you.

Accept my apologies if I have missed anything, if you don't agree or don't like what we are or stand for. The comments here are taken from our experience, if you have a different experience please feel free to reply.

 

[Pasty]

What Humor?
If you are farming you may or may not know about all the certification boards and assurance schemes ,also if you have bothered to diversify into tourist you may have heard of grading and Tourist boards,ratings certificates, inspections etc.
Also if you have gone into camping and caravan sites,then ,members inspections,basic ,requirements and standards ?
Why when some one asks a genuine question is it suppose to be a joke?
You don'tHave a go at others on here that seem it is a joke?
We are all interested and no offence given to @Freedom Camping Club .
With up coming groups ,gender,climate or vegan etc etc it is enviable more standards and regulations may or may not apply regarding their agenda ,advertising and implementations.

My apologies if I misconstrued your replies. I assumed an element of sarcasm where there was none. I retract my comments.

 

[case 5140]

Don't take secondary legislation for granted. We visited a CMC site 2 years ago, were a sewage treatment plant was being used for chemical toilet waste, these chemicals were being discharged from the plant into a water course which lead to a large pond. We advised the site to stop this practise but had no further involvement with the site, so couldn't say if this continues. Allowing such chemicals to enter a water course could lead to a heafty fine under environmental protection or even 6 month in prison under the conservation habitats and species regulations.

The greener club appear to attract a more decerning environmentally conscious customer base but I have no experience of their policies or procedures so can't comment.

We offer all of the above and more, our membership is 16000 so puts us 3rd in terms of membership size I believe, However, although the CMC and CCC have around 300 000 members each we do not limit sites to members only therefore you have access to a market of millions. We pay keen attention to secondary legislation which means we don't accept sites that may be accepted by other clubs, we are also likely to request ecology appraisals, flood risk assessment, highway surveys or landscape and visual amenity assessments if you are in sensitive areas. This in not always required even for sites in National parks, AONBs local conservation areas etc. Our own assessment identifies these risks.

We expect site operators to be more involved with the running of the site including marketing but when a site can generate over £100,000 per annum, that expectation is fair.

Our aims are to develope a thriving cottage industry which is diverse and unique, if you want branding, cudos and to move along in the crowd try The CMC or CCC, if you want to advocate conservation choose the greener club, if you want a no questions asked site try the motor caravanners club. If you want something new exciting and rewarding and don't mind the hard work, we may be for you.

Accept my apologies if I have missed anything, if you don't agree or don't like what we are or stand for. The comments here are taken from our experience, if you have a different experience please feel free to reply.

I have a site with the CMC and a rally field, but i like the sound of the freedom club.Only thing is most caravaners have never herd of you.......

 

[Freedom Camping Club]

I have a site with the CMC and a rally field, but i like the sound of the freedom club.Only thing is most caravaners have never herd of you.......

Freedom Camping Club is 4 years old and eclipsed by the CMC and CCC who are over 100 years old, household names and have a long standing historical following. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, as you will see from above, it is for yourself to review the pros and cons and make the decision of which club is likely to represent your interest.

At this point FCC are not attempting to build a brand in direct competition with the other clubs, this would be almost impossible due to the history and perceived reputations of the other clubs. What FCC offer is freedom and flexibility to build your own brand, where you can stand out from the crowd, offer something unique. The wider customer demographic and freedom to work with renowned marketing companies allows you to target your audience and meet your customer expectations, not rely on the demographic which the other clubs have chosen for you. What FCC offer is very different and not directly comparable to the other major clubs. For some this is too far out of the box and scary, to others it is a breath of fresh air which is welcome and empowering. It is you that decides.

 

[John5thwheeler]

Hi Just to let you all know, I had a choice as you all do and decided to go with not necessarily the biggest club but in my opinion (for what that’s worth) the most helpful club.

I have recently received a certificate of exemption from Freedom Camping for 5 caravan pitches and 10 Tents, when the FCC rep inspected our 2 acre site he was very knowledgeable and professional in his approach, after the consultation period we received the certificate of exemption, loads of helpful signage a flag membership cards to issue and their bespoke web site admin user guide, which I have already used and it works. So, thanks FCC you have got us up and running, and look forward to working with you.