Allow owners of seasonal caravans to use them.

Allow people to have access to their caravans. Static caravans are homes from home with everything the owner requires in the unit. So there is no more risk than at home of being infected. In fact there is possibly less risk involved as caravan parks are often in more secluded locations. Permenatly sited touring caravans also could be used without any heightened risk. For example the caravan park we currently have our caravan sited on has 6 permanent tourers which remain on site all year round. The toilet and wash facilities on site are separate units, each containing toilet, shower and sink. As it stands at the moment there are 8 separate units with this set up. In my opinion the site owners could assign one cubical per caravan. To limit contact or cross infection as a precautionary measure. Also hand sanitiser can be used on entry and exit to the toilet facilities to provide and extra level of control. I would not suggest opening caravan parks to visiting caravans or Motorhomes at present as it would create an influx of travel. However most caravan owners like ourselfs tend to move to their caravan for the open season.

Why the contribution is important

I think this is an important idea to be considered as it will provide a healthy environment to owners. Personally I feel my mental health improves while away from home at the caravan. I feel the caravan does not hold the stresses of home life and provides that much needed sanctuary of rest and relaxation.

by andymurray on May 09, 2020 at 11:54AM

Current Rating

Average rating: 2.7
Based on: 14 votes

Comments

  • Posted by MargaretAnne May 09, 2020 at 12:01

    Too risky at present
  • Posted by Williamstraiton May 09, 2020 at 12:06

    This comment has been removed by a moderator.

  • Posted by Hils27 May 09, 2020 at 12:22

    As a resident in a small coastal town popular with tourists, if the caravan parks fill up it will increase the people on our narrow streets, making social distancing difficult. Also, will put extra pressure on our local health services.
    We already have people who have disregarded the stay at home rules and come to their holiday homes!
    When we go out for a walk at the moment 60-70% of the people we pass are not local residents. So, although I understand people find it appealing and think it is good for their mental health, what about the people in these communities that will have to deal with the influx of visitors. There is already a rise in resentment in the local population with the amount of holiday homes in our communities and the disregard by some in this current situation. I feel that letting the caravan parks to reopen will just increase this.
  • Posted by Bec May 09, 2020 at 12:25

    As someone who lives in the Highlands this concerns me. I understand how beneficial to your mental health and well being this would be but every additional visitor to the local area adds a strain to already stretched resources. We only have 28 intensive care beds for the whole of the Highlands, just a small number of additional visitors could potentially overwhelm us. Getting seriously unwell in a rural area is much more problematic than in an urban area.

    I share your frustration, we have a holiday home that we rely on for income and have just had our holiday to Nairn caravan park cancelled but I think we need to be really cautious about increasing the number of out of area visitors to sparsely populated areas until we're sure if the impact of easing lockdown is sustainable.
  • Posted by Emax2020 May 09, 2020 at 12:37

    My concern would be whether the local health care services would be able to support this. Would you really want to be in somewhere which only had a community hospital if you became ill with Coronavirus?
    Maybe visits could be allowed for short periods e.g. a long weekend initially and in the understanding that should you get symptoms you pack up and go home. Understand the frustration. I don’t own a caravan but know others who do.
  • Posted by Elkie May 09, 2020 at 12:45

    The frustration is completely understandable.
    It is, yet again, another point, why we do need antibody testing as soon as possible.
    It wouldn't be easy and require a lot of discipline and control. But it could be done, if enough people would test positive. People without antibodies could be offered a health check and be advised about their individual risk of becoming severely ill. Low risk persons could be infected in a controlled manner, should they so wish. High risk people would have to be careful and wait for a vaccine. And they should get as much support from the whole society as they need.
    Should the test results show that only a very small number of people have already been through this infection, well, that would unfortunately mean that all of us would have to be extremely cautious and careful for a considerably longer time.
  • Posted by Robert866 May 09, 2020 at 13:19

    Where a site has touring pitches Motorhomes and Caravans should be allowed as well. Shared facilities could remain closed since modern campers and caravans have perfectly adequate facilities on board. Social distancing could be easily enforced.
  • Posted by Andy1510 May 09, 2020 at 13:45

    Key point in the lockdown measures is to avoid unnecessary journeys! Non starter.
  • Posted by C5tuk May 09, 2020 at 16:01

    No reason why this wouldn't work, caravans wither tourers or static on seasonal pitches already have there own facilities and are spaced out, would be easy to Social distance
  • Posted by dereK1942 May 09, 2020 at 16:33

    Yes, caravan sites should be open, but the risks to the local population must be minimised. Caravan owners should not go to their caravan if they have symptoms, or have been in contact with a covid-19 sufferer, should return home if they start to experience symptoms and should take sufficient provisions to avoid the need to shop in the caravan site locality. Social distancing should be maintained while on-site and when visiting local places. These measures require the co-operation of caravan owners, just like all the restrictions and any proposed easements. Regard could be given to the size of sites as smaller ones don't have the same impact on the local community; similarly in some areas the number of sites is smaller than others. Perhaps caravan sites should be considered individually by application from the site owner.
  • Posted by Hils27 May 09, 2020 at 17:14

    People in caravans don't stay in them they go out for shopping and walks. Nobody knows if they are carrying this virus and they can be bring it with them to small communities.

    This is a leisure activity and until all travel it open to all then caravan parks should remain closed.
  • Posted by Laffy01224 May 10, 2020 at 17:04

    This would work. The comments here speaking of caravan owners putting their community at risk is just not true. Unless everyone in the local community stayed in the area and didn’t go to work then they are owing no more of a risk to anyone than the workers are.

    Nobody with symptoms should be going out at all and people should be staying a safe distance from one another at all times.

    This works for caravan owners on as shared facilities are not used because they have them onboard.
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