Many of you will know of my involvement with Hope and Aid Direct, taking humanitarian aid out to Kosovo.
Last year we took ownership of the two artics that we use to do the convoys. So far, we have been given free parking by a storage company in the Chippenham area, on land that they rent from the MoD. Unfortunately, despite the fact that we work with the British KFOR out in Kosovo, the MoD has decided that we’re not allowed to park there, and wants to charge us £2k/year in rent. We’ve tried to reason with them, but they’re not willing to budge, and still want their money.
Obviously, it’s unrealistic for a small charity to having to raise £2k/year to pay to the MoD (that’s a few fundraising events each year solely to pay the UK government), so…
Does anyone have any contacts of people that would be willing to give us parking for two artics at a nominal rent (or even free )?
We’re looking for somewhere in the Bristol/Chippenham/Swindon area (since our maintenance company is near Cirencester, and I’m in Bristol). If we could choose, it would be somewhere that’s secure, that we can access 24 hrs, and could give us access to a forklift (I can provide details of my FLT training if required). Of course, beggars can’t be choosers, and for the moment, we’ll take what we can get.
The vehicles are used solely for convoying purposes - no commercial use. If O-licensing is an issue, we would be happy to provide documentation stating that they are not operated by the company letting us park.
bit of a long shot but what about Honda or Motorolla (they are in swindon (i think they are anyway), just off the a419) and being big companies must have some unused space and i feel you would have better luck with the bigger multi-national companies than the ■■■■■ MOD. they tend to like the free publicity thing dont they?
or even try to ring the sun newspaper and ask them, they like anything against the MOD policies (not the people that are serving, they love them) and they like a good thing for charities to stir/wind people up!
I know its a bit further than you wanna go why not try portbury or avonmouth docks Bristol city council. now i’m sure there’s a small space on that dock side for a small bit of kit
MrFlibble:
. Unfortunately, despite the fact that we work with the British KFOR out in Kosovo, the MoD has decided that we’re not allowed to park there, and wants to charge us £2k/year in rent. We’ve tried to reason with them, but they’re not willing to budge, and still want their money.
Is it the actual MOD themselves who want paying or is the land owned by a private company and leased to the MOD?
ROG:
I’ve changed my post after you quoted me and added a link
Yes, I know where it is - I popped in there to try to get diesel on the way to the boat for the Easter convoy earlier this year; Unfortunately, the tanker was in, and the pump it wasn’t blocking wouldn’t take my cards…
scottbrown:
Is Trowbridge too far?
No, definitely not - Whilst somewhere in the Chippenham area would be great, frankly I’d accept whatever we can get at the moment - even over the Bridge if necessary. Mostly it just needs to be within reasonable travelling distance of the M4/M5 junction (where I live) so that I can go and move them every few weeks to stop everything siezing up - if I’m having to spend a few hours travelling each time, then I’m not going to be able to do it as often as I should.
Do you have anywhere in particular in mind? Feel free to PM me if you don’t want to say anything publicly.
nick2008:
I know its a bit further than you wanna go why not try portbury or avonmouth docks Bristol city council. now i’m sure there’s a small space on that dock side for a small bit of kit
That’s not a bad idea; I assumed that all the land down there was owned by private companies. And no, Portbury or Avonmouth wouldn’t be too far.
Mike-C:
Is it the actual MOD themselves who want paying or is the land owned by a private company and leased to the MOD?
You could try Wrings transport at severn beach, they have a big yard but also rent out spaces to other companies. I work for P.T.S whos main rdc is in birmingham but my truck is based in wrings transport yard as we use it as an out base. Its secure with coded gates & they have a forklift. Not sure if they can do anything but maybe its worth a try. They also operate 24hrs a day as far as i know.
might be a long shot but is there anything like a scania or daf near by i know some let companies park in there yards, and there should be somewhere at portbury docks to park.
what about howard tenens in swindon, just round the corner from Honda on Europa park, we have a few spaces there as do a few other hauliers not sure of any details for them, its in upper stratton, junction after swindon trucksstop at the first roundabout 2nd exit, 2nd at the next, 1st after that, 2nd off the roundabout by lidl heading towards daf centre and 3rd exit of the next roundabout and howard tenens is ahead of you
If it’s not too far then there is an old airfield site at Rissington, between Burford and Stow.
Not sure who owns it but a firm called Bessana operate on a big chunk in the far right corner. Loads of spare land and they use FLT’s.
I think the firm is Italian in origin. Security isn’t great but it is so far out of the way, and in view of the hours they work, it shouldn’t be a worrying problem.
Other than that, a ‘letter to the editor’, Transport Engineer. Which is a publication that goes out to people who ‘run’ operations, rather than just working for them.
Lucy:
Swindon Truckstop rent parking out long term.
Hi Lucy, I also do the aid convoys with Mr Flibble although Ive had to pull out of the next convoy due to leave in 3 weeks because of a back problem. Its not just the parking thats needed its the availabilty of a fork truck on sight too. Some times the artics are loaded maybe a month or two before we leave and then we get some aid that is delivered to the current sight and we have to rearrange to load to get maxiumum capacity on the trailer. This has in the past meant completely unloading then reloading so a fork truck and space is needed. Most of this is done at weekends or evenings as we all have our regular jobs so 24 access is needed. I dont know how much Sindon truckstop would charge but whatever it would be would cut into the tight budget that the charity has and up until now the place were the trucks are parked has been free but now they want to charge £2000 a year thats why Mr Flibble is looking for somewhere else as its an expense that Hope and Aid cant really afford. Mr Flibble does a great job and all in his spare time looking after the trucks, maintenance, taking them for service and MOT and most of the loading so he also needs something close to his home to save expense and time. Ive seen he has a POSITIVE pm from a member so hopefully this will be good news and Im sure he will let us know the out come.
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- they may be worth a call 01249 750645
