22.5.11 Caravans & Skips

I have no real point to make about caravans being towed around the country; all that can be said on the subject has been said already.  If people want to tow them around, stop, live in them for a bit, and then tow them back home, that's up to them.  Not really my cup of tea.

I do however have a concern regarding those who choose to own one, relating to the suitability (or not) of their fixed homes/property.  I am quite sure it is at best 'mildly annoying' and at worst 'fucking aggravating' to have a massive caravan stuck in one of your neighbour's driveways.  For both neighbours to have a caravan parked in the drive would be bad luck, or more accurately, cuntin crap.  But having a driveway gives one a right to park stuff without any real comeback.  What's a lot more challenging is the situation for those living in terraced accommodation.

Today, taking a short cut (to avoid a queue at a junction) I took a couple of turns along side roads, where the properties were predominantly terraced houses, with either no front garden, or a very small effort squashed between the path and the front door.  At a tight junction, I saw a caravan to my left and also one up ahead of me.  These very large containers were parked on the road, amongst the cars lining each road.  Every available space was taken up, the caravans occupying more space than any car.  If I lived on a terraced road, I would not be chuffed if a neighbour parked a twenty-foot tin box outside my front door!

What makes it worse is that these tin boxes are on the road without any road tax.  How can it be right that a massive caravan is purchased by someone who has no space for it on their property, and resorts to leaving it on the highway taking up loads of space, causing a nuisance.  At the same time, if any resident needs a skip (which would occupy about half the floor space and be half the height based on what I observed today) then a permit would be required.  My local council insists on all sorts of restrictions about how and where to position a skip, including notes on traffic cones and lighting.  A permit costs £15 for 2 weeks and £10 per subsequent week.

So, park a caravan [ 20 x 6 x 8 feet = 960 cubic feet ] for a year on the road, and pay nothing.  Position an 8 cubic yard skip [ 216 cubic feet ] which is less than a quarter of the size on the road, and pay £515 per year.  It is perhaps totally coincidental that one of the caravans I looked at seemed no more homely than a skip.  In fact, it could perhaps be used as a working skip, to transport people's shit to a waste site - and no permit would be required.

PS: People commonly mention the term "skip it" to mean throw it away; how do you skip a skip?
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