My father in law owns a farm and is retiring soon and I'm thinking of using some of his land to open my own campsite. I understand there is going to be a lot of work involved even before we start. I was just wondering if anyone else has started up recently and has any ideas or tips on where to get started.
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
Might be easiest to start with a Camping & Caravanning Club Certificated Site (or a Caravan And Motorhome Club Certificated Location - similar site requirements but no tents)?
I agree with Hacksaw Bob, but I think I would go for the C&CC because of the option to include tents (if this is what you intend). I have heard that they give lots of helpful advice, and of course you have the benefit of their advertising.
It's a question that gets asked regularly. You might find some more helpful advice if you use the Search tab.
You can just start with a field & the absolute basics - water & CDP. Then add more of what's needed if & when you can afford it - EHU, toilet, later a shower, hard standing, campers kitchen, wifi....
Good luck.
You don't state where you are in the country, but the first thing I would be doing was to talk to the local Planning Officers to see what the Local Plan allows.
You could also try contacting the owner of this site who said to me that he had approached both the Camping & Caravanning Club and Caravan & Motorhome Club, and found the former much more amenable and easier to deal with.
------------- "Don't wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect."
Really does depend what you want, from it, where you are in the country ete etc etc.
You could use one of the organisations to exempt you from planning and site licensing. they have their own rules as to what you need to provide, proximity to other sites and access. The main 2 are very restrictive on where you can advertise etc.
There are a couple of others who can exempt you also depending on your location and they leave you to promote your site yourself.
Then you could operate under the 28 day rule, which allows you to use a piece of land for any use for up to 28 days with out PP, but the caravan act won't allow you to site vans. Different councils interpret the 28 days in different ways as to whether they can be any 28 days or consecutive from your first guest also if you have multiple fields, whether you can have multiple sets of 28 days.
Then you have the full planning and site licence route, which will depend entirely on your local authority and your location.
Contrary to popular belief there is a lot more involved than most people think, even for a basic site, particularly if you want to make it profitable enough to be worth your while.
It is also time consuming and does tie you to your site if you want to run it decently.
We set up a new site last summer, which is pretty basic and over the past 2 years I reckon we have sunk £10k into the project, We will go into profit this year off of 15 pitches. We are exempted by the Greener Camping Club and in a very popular part of Pembrokeshire near St Davids
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
Wonder how Garysimmons77 got on? All that advice from us & not a cheep from him since he first joined UKCS & asked his question.
Maybe his site is up & running.....
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Starting a new campsite.
via mobile 23/6/2019 at 7:34pm
