Suffolk Coastal to review Campervan Ban!

Mock up of what sign could look like

Suffolk Coastal have agreed to review the ban of small campervans at Aldeburgh Seawall. After lengthly correspondence with all of the many agencies involved and the involvement of local MP Therese Coffey Suffolk Coastal have agreed to consult the stakeholders involved and see if smaller vans could be allowed to park during the day as they are at almost all Suffolk Coastal's car parks right now. So this is something of a victory but we'll hold off the celebrations under a new sign similar to the one mocked up here is on display. I'll then invite all involved to join me for a glass of champagne on the beach!

VW Campervans banned because they are "unsightly"

Take a look at the photo below of a VW Campervan on the seawall at Aldeburgh. Do you agree that this vehicle is so "unsightly" that it needs to be banned by a legal order? Suffolk Coastal District Council do.

Image Courtesy of @PaulOBrian

After getting fobbed off with countless emails claiming that the reason for the ban for campervans was due to them damaging the seawall due to their weight - despite the fact that much heavier Cars and small trucks up to 3.5 tonnes are allowed to park there an email from Roger Warren (District Councillor, Aldeburgh Ward, Suffolk Coastal District Council) admitted:

"A further factor leading to this decision was the incessant complaints from local Council Tax Payers about the unsightly appearance of too many Campervans occupying space on the area , with frequent reports of Campervan owners fouling the sea by depositing their slop and toilet buckets in the sea....

Over recent years the parties concerned have been inundated with complaints about campervans cluttering the Seawall and preventing local residents enjoying the views : worse, a minority were quite openly emptying slop and toilet buckets into the sea (there are no toilet facilities closer than the carpark at the end of the High Street). A minority were also rigging drying lines and making the place look like a Chinese Laundry !

(As an aside, small Comb-vans appear far more prone to erecting drying lines !)"

So there you have it, campervan owners drive unsightly vehicles and behave in an anti-social manner. Apprently. According to Councillor Warren.


See my earlier post on Campervans Banned from Aldeburgh Seawall

New Three MiFi (Huawei E585) Review

The "new" MiFi

LINK - Third Generation E586 Review
Back in January I blogged a review of the then new Three MiFi, you can read it here. Here is my review of the "new" and similar MiFi 2 (Huawei E585). The easiest  way to tell them apart is that "old" MiFi is white and the new one is black. I liked the MiFi in January and have used it a great deal since, for my regular train commute and also when camping and out and about including use at the Glastonbury festival where it gave by far the most reliable Internet connection.

If you haven't read my old review in short the MiFi is a device that connects to the mobile phone network using  3G and turns itself into a mobile wireless access point that you can connect up to 5 devices to that all share the 3G Internet connection.

The "Old" Mifi

There were a few niggles with the "old" MiFi. As shipped the firmware was limited and you needed to press three buttons to connect to the Internet. If you are a geek like me and happy to flash new firmware from an unauthorised source on the web that could be easily fixed but most users would not want to do this. The new MiFi only has one button! Press it and it turns on and connects.

There were also issues with the usefulness of the display with its confusing 5 lights and the new MiFi has a full screen with lots of information such as network, connect time, signal and battery strength. The old MiFi also wouldn't charge and run at the same time, if you plugged it in it would run but not charge the battery. That is fixed too as is pretty much every little niggle people had (see list below).

The new MiFi is very similar to the old one and that is no bad thing, it was a solid product and this builds on that to make it even better. At £50 pay as you go and from free on contract this is reasonably priced and I highly recommend it. Great to see that Three and Huawei have listened to feedback from users and improved the product based on that.

Improved from old MiFi

• Single Button Connect
• OLED screen with full information (network, connect time, battery, data transferred, signal strength, number of devices connected)
• Full access to configure from a web browser without the need to plug in
• Improved battery
• Battery charges and runs device at the same time
• Access to files on MicroSD card from any connected wifi device (previously had to be plugged in via USB)
• Uses MicroUSB the new "standard" for mobile devices
• Visual indication device is "on" even when screen is sleeping to save battery
• Black colour more in keeping with latest tech

Advantages

• can connect multiple devices (laptops, smartphones etc) up to 5
• saves battery on connecting devices (compared to 3G)
• allows mobile use of devices without 3G (such as iPod Touch, PSP, Nintendo DSi)
• cheap
• can be located in high 3G signal strength area (Say by a window) without you needing to sit there
• can be used in a caravan, car, boat or campervan (and will run happily from 12V with a suitable lead)
• doesn't need to be plugged in to a device

Disadvantages

• another gadget to carry
• another gadget to remember to charge (but it will run from a USB cable if you forget!)

Suffolk Coastal bans Campervans from the seawall at Aldeburgh

For many years we have enjoyed visiting Aldeburgh which I have always thought of as a friendly place, getting fish and chips and eating them in our campervan parked by the seawall looking out towards the beach and sea. For reasons that are completely incomprehensible Suffolk Coastal District Council have now put up signs and have passed an Order banning this on pain of an £80 penalty notice. By this I really mean that you cannot park campervans at this location, I don't mean camp overnight (which would be understandable). You can park pretty much anything else, a huge SUV if you like that is bigger and heavier than my campervan...

I saw this sign at a recent visit but ignored it as I assumed it referred to camping and then when I read it I assumed it was a mistake but it appears Suffolk Coastal have gone out of their way to do this. Why? What harm does parking a campervan the same size as an average car do? It seems such an incredibly stupid thing to do and the Council really seem to be killjoys to put it kindly.

I have written to the Council to ask for an explanation and an opportunity to get the Council to change their mind and see some common sense. Petty rules and regulations from jumped-up public authorities are really starting to get in the way of daily life. What the Council really need to do here is repair the dreadful state of the road and parking area rather than wasting time putting up silly signs and making ridiculous orders...

Not allowed...