The owner of a motorhome parking spot near Loch Ness has decided to close it for the winter due to inconsiderate users.
Janet Turnbull, owner of Dave’s Rest in Drumnadrochit, told the P&J she is fed up with people leaving without paying and destroying the onsite facilities.
The 62-year-old, a caravan lover who opened the site in memory of her late dad Dave, said that although dishonest users are “a minority”, the situation is getting “worse and worse.”
She charges £10 per night and £5 for using an electric hook-up (EHU), using an honesty box system.
She said that some people put an empty envelope through her doorstep to make it look like they’ve paid.
Ms Turnbull added that some motorhomers have damaged the chemical disposal point, which is no longer safe to use.
She has now closed the site for the winter for the first time since its opening and is considering whether to reopen it in the spring.
Dave’s Rest closes due to ‘inconsiderate’ users
Ms Turnbull explained she and her dad talked about setting up a caravan park in 2018.
“He told me: ‘when I retire, you can have the yard and convert it’ but unfortunately he did not make retirement and he passed away in 2019,” she said.
However, that same year, she decided to go ahead and name the site after him.
It started as a small car park for just up to five campervans but after covid, she installed electric hook-ups and a flushing unit so people could empty their toilet waste.
She said: “It was never about making an income, it was just about providing a facility that was desperately needed for motorhomers at the time the community.
“What I do with the profit is to sponsor my niece, who does kart racing.
“If my father was alive, he would be basically supporting her with that, so this is my way of keeping him involved.”
Motorhomers leaving without pay
The Drumnadrochit campsite is based on an honesty system set up on a red bus which serves as a reception area.
People can put the cash into an envelope and then slide it through the door or do a PayPal payment.
She said: “99.9% of the times they’ll do it, but then you get people who will put an empty envelope through my doorstep to make it look like they’ve paid.
“But what’s an abuse is using things that are costing me money like electricity and then don’t pay for it.
“Some of them put £10 on the envelope but don’t add the £5 for the electricity.
“There’re even people coming during the day who charge up and then leave.
“With the price of electricity this is not sustainable.”
People make a mess of the chemical disposal point
Although there are no toilets onsite, Ms Turnbull installed a chemical disposal facility for people to flush their toilet waste.
She put a heater within the unit to prevent it from freezing, but she complains people keep leaving the door open.
“They’ve gone into a warm area to empty their toilets and then I ended up with frozen toilets,” she said.
The Drumnadrochit local continued: “Some of them have also missed the toilet and not cleaned it up, so I’m having to do that.
“I’m really just asking for a bit of consideration.”
Conversation