OPINION: Are Gwynedd’s new overnight stopovers too good to be true?

Reading the article ‘Planning given for four motorhome stopovers in Gwynedd‘ gave a ray of sunshine to my otherwise thunderstorm ridden day.

I have long been a visitor to various parts of Wales for day trips, hiking, sightseeing etc. but, being a newbie to the van life community, I had wondered how I would fair in this circumstance.

I know from experience that getting parking in a layby near any attraction, town or mountain is hopeless unless you are there before the sun is rising, so the prospect of having a purpose built area, with facilities sounds great  but is it too good to be true?

The details presently are a bit vague; is there a size/weight limit, for example?

I am in a 30 ft motorhome weighing over five tonne and I am already finding limitations, including at paid campsites, that just cannot accommodate a vehicle this big, or they have a bridge onto site that won’t cope with the weight.

Are the facilities included in the price or will that be extra,  and what is the price for 48 hours?

Despite these sites being expected to open for summer, I have not seen or heard that they are to date, which is shame as summer has definitely landed.

Related: Planning given for four motorhome stopovers in Gwynedd

I hope that the Arosfan sites are advertised in some way upon completion or a new press release issued to provide an update in the near future.

One key point that I picked up on that this is a ‘trial’ project – it has me wondering what they are looking for in this experiment?

What is the outcome Gwynedd Council are hoping to see to make this idea permanent?

I hope that once opened the people that use these sites will be respectful and grateful to the area and surroundings because a lack of will, for sure, see this concept get scrapped.

Vying to stop ‘vehicles parking without a right’ is a tall order and a grey area for both officials and motorhome owners.

With apps like Park4Night offering locations of off-road parking all over the UK and Europe, it will no doubt be a long battle but, with these Arosfan sites, they may well have won the battle locally  but not perhaps the wider war.

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