A minimalist solo camper or a family whose members can help out with the set up and packing may be fine with it.
As a solo tenter with a heavy tent and a trailer full of camping gears in the past, I did not like the idea of having to unload/reload and transport the gears from a distance and not at my pitch.
Personal preferences and all that.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
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We couldn't have managed without the car next to the tent as we lived out of the back of the car, used it as a windbreak, hung a tarp from the open hatch to make a shelter, and so on.
Why not mark out minimum size pitches temporarily and see how you get on. Use logs to mark out. Then if your punters seem to be struggling, you could lose a pitch next year and give the others a bit extra space.
OP said the site is temporary, grass. Can’t mow grass with logs in it. I’ve seen pitches marked with nothing more than bright paint on the fence posts round the outside. Then are you centred on the mark or post, or pitching between two marks or posts…
But - the OP hasn’t mentioned the toilet(s) and showers. That would surely limit how many people they can have on site. Which would limit the number of tents? Which might decide the spacing?
For what it's worth, as a solo tenter I would not stay somewhere where my car is not by my tent. Partly because of the dog and partly because I tend to use my car as security for things and store camping kit that I'll be using when I'm out for the day (I don't like lazing about). I also prefer pitch where you like (within reason - I also like space)!!
Ver good point about the loos, etc.
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I'm afraid I'm another one who would not entertain a site with car parked away from my tent.
Two fold reasoning, as already stated numerous times, the convenience of secure storage and leaving everyday items in car beside tent rather than unloading into tent, and the spacing with a car between you and neighbouring pitch gives a degree of privacy and less crammed in feeling.
I certainly wouldn't be prepared to trek back and forth from car park to pitch carrying heavy tent and other heavy/awkward camping equipment! I'd be even less impressed if forced to do so in bad weather, and I've probably made and broken camp in bad weather more times than fine weather!
Your business model may have more appeal to lightweight/backpacking type campers, but you appear to be excluding the mainstream campers from their preferred arrangement. Whether your business model would be successful with limited camper appeal is for you to decide, and you alone.
Thank you all for your comments over the last day or so, you've been most helpful.
My field is 0.7 acres so I have had to really think about using the space in the most efficient way.
I've just marked it out this afternoon so we will see how I get on and if I need to modify it then I will do that but I am quite happy with what I have come up with:
The field is roughly a rectangle; there are just 15 pitches, each one of 10mx10m because I do not want to set myself up with complaints about space when I am starting out. I can do without it! I feel that the pitch size (car parked within this) does justice to a small field and it shouldn't look cramped; I'm happy with the compromise I've made, hopefully there will be happy campers? I can change it later according to results and customer feedback.
On one side I have 10 pitches and the other 5 but on this side I am having bins, portaloos and the gateway is here too. The middle of the field has about a 5m wide run for cars to make their way down to the pitches which, going by the majority of your comments, I know should keep many campers happy!?
How many fresh water points do you have, and what about hot showers and washing up facilities?
When I started off as a tenter in a small tent without EHU, I needed to have access to fresh water, a toilet, a hot shower and a sink with hot water for washing up as a minimum.
If it is just a field with portaloos, then I personally would not be interested as a tenter, sorry.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
It all depends on the sort of customers. Families with young children will welcome a site where kids can play safely without cars driving around, and youngsters who camp at festivals never have cars next to their tents.
It’s a temporary site with temporary loos etc. I’m sure the OP will modify it according to what the campers say, though there’s only 2 more camping months realistically. If children’s safety is an issue, it might need to be adults only. If the grass down the middle churns up into mud, then the cars will have to park somewhere else anyway. If people don’t come because there’s no shower or pot wash or EHU, then hey ho: they go elsewhere & that’s an upgrade if the site becomes permanent.
10x10 should work well. One of my favourite sites has that arrangement & you can put your tent / MH etc whichever way you want - parallel to the fence, right angles…
What will the site fee be, I wonder, for this basic site? That’s the clincher.
Site fee is one of the considerations, however not the key motivator for me to stay on a site.
Otherwise I would have stayed at a lot more pub with a field sites with dreadful facilities.
Each to their own and all that.
The OP has not answered some of the questions that have been asked. Perhaps the OP has not seen them, or is avoiding to answer them for whatever reasons.
Good luck with the OP's venture.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Not that unusual to have cars parked away from pitches in France. Makes for a tidier looking site. For a tent only pop up campsite I would have thought safety was a consideration. Always a possibility of brain dead camper half cut returning in the dark & running over a tent. It has happened.
------------- Every day should be a holiday!
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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: Pitch size for new site?
via mobile 18/8/2021 at 7:36am
