Campervans in Marina area?

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122201721#Comment_122201721

They may be, I'm sure some councillors keep an eye on boards.ie and politics.ie, if not they may get notified on threads regarding their area. But it's more for updates, ie; if there's a change in the carpark, camper spots made available or indeed an aire is established the thread can be updated with that particular info.

For that reason it shouldn't be shut down.

Gaspode

Shutting a thread is a mod decision and I see no reason to do that at the moment. It feels more likely that some of the immature responses will earn those posters infractions or bans.

Keep it civil & on-topic please.

the beer revolu

Was down that way today. Still quite a few campervans there, some of which look like they haven't moved in some time.

Interestingly, the signs don't say, "no overnight parking" the have a campervan graphic with a line through it. Does this mean that campervans aren't allowed park there at all, at any time? Is this legal?

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122201850#Comment_122201850

That's odd, the Campervan icon with a line through it is usually accompanied by a no-overnight message. It could mean one of two things.

1 - No campers at all which is hard to enforce if the vans are taxed, insured and with a valid CVRT. (Usually circumnavigated with height restricted barriers eventually).

2 - Appeasing complainers, put signs up and do nothing which is very common.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122201784#Comment_122201784

i'd b v doubtful if anyone with any power etc checks in on boards.. but in any event - I do hope ye get a suitable designated campervan parking area - happy to see any money coming into the city..

Happy Sunny Long Weekend everyone - whoop whoop ☀️

dulpit

I noticed today a load of campers in the carpark of the church opposite the mardyke (the sacred heart). Wonder if they have to pay...

sporina

was down by the marina today..

the beer revolu

The second larger signs weren't there on Thursday.

PreCocious

I was down there last evening and was chatting to someone down for the match and they had contacted the council and were told the rules weren't starting until June 1.

This person also mentioned that they'd be happy to pay for overnight parking in a safe area etc.

notAMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122198652#Comment_122198652

Sustainable holiday option? Are you smoking some funny stuff?

Campervans have the carbon footprint of about 5 diesel SUVs each, they are notoriously polluting. Miles per gallon is off the charts it's so bad, they use diesel to do the laundry, pump anything, watch TV. A standard house is far less polluting than an SUV, and a standard hotel is even more energy efficient again per person.

IF, and it's ONLY if they stay in an ecofriendly park, with sustainable water, power and sewage facilities they can offset maybe 10% of the damage they do, but in general they leave a trail of unmitigated pollution, unmanaged waste and untreated sewage in their wake. Plonking an ineffective solar panel on top of them almost as a decoration does not make them eco-friendly by any means. You have to park in the blazing sun for that to work, which cooks the residents. campervans park in the shade.

Marina car-park is certainly not a sustainable place for a campervan.

To be ecofriendly, try driving your ecar or cycle your bike, or take public transport to stay in a standard hotel, connected to mains water and mains sewage. This is many times better than the enormous ostentatious personal diesel transportation people take to smear their family excrement on a place of natural beauty.

I get that people are struggling to find housing in Ireland, that is a different issue. But drop the utter gobshittery about campervans being eco-friendly, nothing could be further from the truth.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122215539#Comment_122215539

Who told you that? This is one of the silliest post I've seen, you're way off the mark here.

They use diesel to drive & they're as efficient as any light goods vehicle. After the initial trip they're sitting up and bikes are used to get around. The pumps, TV, power, everything run on leisure batteries or are hooked up to the mains. They're much much less damaging to the environment than taking a jet plane and staying in a hotel as the campsites are very eco friendly.

notAMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122215889#Comment_122215889

Where are these ecofriendly "mains" you're plugging into in the Marina car park exactly?

And on the rest… Let me google that for you… An average trip in a campervan is approx 350kg carbon… a short-haul flight Cork to Paris is about 240kg carbon.

Nice carbon emission link for you here:

https://co2.myclimate.org/en/calculate_emissions

Here are some more links specific to campervans..

https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/essays/is-vanlife-ecofriendly/

https://www.ispo.com/en/sustainability/how-does-sustainable-vanlife-work

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jul/04/ethicalliving.lifeandhealth1

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122216001#Comment_122216001

oh wow - had no idea

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122216001#Comment_122216001

Nice try. For 4 people to fly from Cork to Paris is almost 2 tonnes of carbon.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122217727#Comment_122217727

While I'm not defending campervans' sustainability, it did seem to me that comparing a short haul flight for a single person to an, "average campervan trip", whatever that is, was deliberately disingenuous and misleading.

Also when a poster, as evidenced by their own posts, appears to take dozens of flights a year, it seems somewhat hypocritical to be accusing others of high carbon footprints!

PreCocious

Lol. Campervanners are stereotypically frugal so fuel is not going to be wasted hence the prevalence of solar panels and battery installs. Unlike SUV drivers outside schools or down in the Marina carpark they're less likely to leave their engines idling and less likely to drive 1km just to go for a walk.

There has to be a sanity check here - the footprint of a couple driving down to Cork from Donegal has to be less than a couple flying from Cork to Paris.

whisky_galore

Lots of barely disguised jealousy in evidence here.

Fabio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122215539#Comment_122215539

Wow, this is all over the shop. They're not the devil you make them out to be.

Modern campervans are based on small or medium van chassis with the van engine. Fiat Ducato would be one such base vehicle. Extremely efficient and clean running modern diesel available with a 1.9 or 2.5 litre engine. These are no bigger than some of the jumped-up SUVs you see around the place and just as clean so I don't know how you think a campervan has the carbon footprint of 5 SUVs.

Granted, not all campervans are modern so wouldn't be as clean as a sub-10 year old Ducato but you must remember that they do, on average, a couple of thousand miles a year. They certainly aren't doing the 10 minute school run every day that those bloody SUVs do. Campervans tend to also be used on longer trips, not slow urban traffic crawls, so they're operating at peak efficiency for most of their driving time, unlike those SUVs crawling through traffic on the school run.

I don't know what you're reading but campervans do not use diesel to do laundry or watch TV. How is that even possible? Some have gas heaters for water, and most have large batteries, which the engine charges when the van is driving, which then feeds electricity for a small TV or charging tablets or phones. I've seen people fire up generators, which annoys me, but most of the time it's a "leisure battery" which will supply you with power (and solar panels can and DO help keep those topped up too).

Hopefully this doesn't come across as condescending but I hope it educates you a bit on the topic. It's unfortunate when people get up on their high horses and pontificate without knowing the real story.

notAMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122229775#Comment_122229775

campervans do not use diesel to do laundry or watch TV. Some have gas heaters for water, and most have large batteries, which the engine charges when the van is driving.

If you charge your large batteries with your diesel engine… which you use to watch TV, you are using diesel to run your TV. Make sense?

Fabio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122240394#Comment_122240394

The charging is done while the van is on the move. As in, driving, on the road. Same way as a normal 12V starter battery in every internal combustion vehicle in the world is charged while the vehicle is on the move.

Make sense?

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122240922#Comment_122240922

There's no getting away from the fact that the energy in the batteries is coming from diesel unless there are solar panels or external charging points. There's no free energy. Alternators use energy to charge, that comes from diesel.

John_Rambo

All vehicles use their fuel to power batteries. SUV’s, planes, trains, ferries etc… 
The point remains, Campervan’s are one of the most sustainable ways to holiday. 

Fabio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122241785#Comment_122241785

Of course there's no free energy. But the point remains - the van charges it's batteries while on the move. Same as most other vehicles on the road. The initial poster seemed to think the vans were burning diesel and spewing diesel fumes for hours on end so someone inside could have a couple of lights on. I was just letting them, and any other interested parties, know how this stuff actually works.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122242722#Comment_122242722

Look, I'm neither pro or anti on campervans but the fact remains that using diesel to generate electricity for leisure or utility uses isn't very clean or efficient. It would be like using a diesel generator at home rather than plugging into the grid.

On the other hand, some of the claims made regarding inefficiency of campervans here were completely off the wall, particularly in comparison to air travel and "5 SUVs"!

John_Rambo

I take it you’ve never been away in a camper? They primarily don’t rely on diesel for power. They plug in in campsites because the leisure batteries don’t last that long, they’re only 12v batteries That’s why aires and campsites are so popular. The central heating, the fridges, cookers, grills and hobs run on gas and if you’re wild camping you’re reliant on the solar panels or you simply run out of power and use a torch or lamps. 

You may as well go around admonishing people for using their headlights or glovebox lights.

They’re still one of the most sustainable way to holiday. A camping trip by car or by campervan will definitely lead to a smaller footprint than flying, especially if you'd fly to a hotel.

Ozvaldo

Im seeing tents down there now aswell with people living in them by the looks of it

the beer revolu

There's a lot of visible poverty out there!

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122246974#Comment_122246974

The local ninnies will getting the council to move on people who have run out of options now. Talk about kicking people when they're down.

notAMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122240922#Comment_122240922

Yes…. and that energy comes from the diesel engine. Or are you claiming that camper vans can somehow break the first law of thermodynamics?

Listen, feel free to enjoy them, they provide ultimate in freedom and accessing all sorts of inaccessible places in the world. But the poster above was making out they were one of the most sustainable forms of holidaying possible, the holy grail of eco-friendliness.

They're actually closer to a hyper-privileged combination of a private car/plane and a private mobile hotel, the absolute opposite end of the scale of public transport and publicly accessible accommodation. If the benchmark you're trying to beat is another symbol of pollution and waste (massive SUVs), then that's a fairly low bar.

Try beating cycling or public transport as a more believable sustainability goal.

Fabio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122251065#Comment_122251065

Weird how some on this thread who claim to understand the first law of thermodynamics don't understand the simple idea of a battery being charged by an engine which is, at the very same time, propelling the vehicle. Same as any other internal combustion engine vehicle really. By definition you're going to be mobile in the van so it makes sense to use that energy to charge up a system you can use when stopped. It's clean at the site you stop, it emits some pollution, mainly CO2 when on the move, same as any other ICE vehicle.

There are some campers which, to my mind, are more like mobile homes, I kinda wonder why the people in them bother leaving home at all given they've taken the house with them BUT….most camper vans aren't like that so it's unfair to say they're a "hyper-privileged combination of….". The barrier to entry for a campervan is fairly low. If you're handy, you can build your own as time and funds allow. Many people do. Some even do them in such a way that you can still use it as your daily vehicle too, two jobs in one.

But look, that's not convenient to this thread. I don't know why but you're trying to drag this down the culture-war route by making it into an issue of privilege etc.

opus

It's a non-issue now! I was jogging down there earlier & not a single one due to the barrier.

John_Rambo

A win for the busybodies and curtain twitchers.

The carpark I mentioned in my neighbourhood has had the same treatment, signs are up and I can only imagine ugly height barriers are on the way because of one busybody that doesn't actually use the carpark.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122251654#Comment_122251654

wow when did that go up?

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122731272#Comment_122731272

9 months after you first complained it seems. Wow.

Happy?

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122731422#Comment_122731422

you mean since I started this thread?

oh well - seems I was not alone in wondering how odd it was.. but I do hope that an appropriate camper van parking area is created in the vicinity of the city

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122731495#Comment_122731495

Hope being the operative word here.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122731495#Comment_122731495

Won't happen. Damage has been done, buzz has been killed. Down with adventure.

I'm currently lobbying with my local councillor to have an aire where in my area but it's an uphill battle with the likes of you around.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122732174#Comment_122732174

well I hope your being rational and practical with your LCC

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122732502#Comment_122732502

The whole proposal is rational and practical. Lobbying against & complaining about campervans parking in a carpark because you think it's "odd" is irrational and impractical for everyone.

Mefistofelino

The long-termers in their campers and caravans haven't disappeared - they are now dispersed around the suburbs and I'm willing to bet that most of the original complainants who were so concerned about the disposal of waste and rubbish haven't given a subsequent thought to what might be happening with that waste now.

But at least the good citizens of Blackrock and Douglas can now park their oversized electric SUVs closer to cake & coffee.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122732543#Comment_122732543

awe bless..

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122732989#Comment_122732989

It's funny isn't it. All about the optics and perceptions.

PreCocious

I wonder how the barriers will affect the boat club trailers. Some of them seem high.

The other issue is that the problem has just been moved. So instead of being tucked in at the end of a vast parking area the vans are now scattered in odd parking places along Monhan Road. But at least they're not taking the space of the SUVs being driven from Ballinlough or Douglas Road in order that the yummies can have a power walk.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122740428#Comment_122740428

There were barriers there previously. The two clubs are given keys to open them.

beer enigma

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122732989#Comment_122732989

I'm still interested to find out where the chemical waste was/is disposed of because as a caravan owner I don't know of any CDP point in Cork City

cantalach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122740428#Comment_122740428

Unoriginal classist cliches might win you a few likes but they won’t win any debate.

PreCocious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122757005#Comment_122757005

This whole thing is classism. It's about people wanting what they perceive to be a problem removed from their view but without caring if it's resolved.

(Of course there's also the irony of people driving to a nice spot and giving out about other people who drove there).

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122757005#Comment_122757005

Oh noes, someone's having a pop at well off people!

cantalach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122762313#Comment_122762313

Am I wrong though? It’s a cheap cliche that’s classist and sexist. That doesn’t persuade anyone.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122764126#Comment_122764126

Yes.