Land access: What is a reasonable price to pay?

[David Willis]

I'm working on a project to develop Bushcraft activities in a large public woodland and our plans include opening up some areas for personal Bushcraft use e.g. woodland crafts and camping out with a campfire!

Having read through this thought provoking post Land access: would you give permission?

1. There would be some restrictions on use e.g. no hunting or felling trees, but there would be an abundance of wood available for use
2. Would need to demostrate their commitment to minimal impact on environment and good Bushcraft
3. Book in advance to ensure peaceful enjoyment i.e. limited number at any one time
4. For individuals or small groups, adult only and family groups
5. Automatic invite to pop by, say hello, have a chat around the campfire, make sure everything and everyone is fine

I'd like to know how much folks would be willing to pay to spend a day and night out in the woods.

On the basis that all fees would go towards the management of the woodland, would £10 per head be reasonable?

Your thoughts appreciated

Many thanks
David

www.davidwillis.biz

 

[Chambers]

Brockwell near Newcastle offer something similar and charge about £9pppn which I dont think is too bad

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[David Willis]

Thanks Chambers,

This is probably the place: Brockwell Woods: http://xeno-systems.co.uk/brockwell/default.htm

Good to know others are doing something similar for a similar charge.

Many thanks

 

[dave53]

yep anything between £5to £10 pppn is ok what facilities are you going to provide regards dave

 

[David Willis]

No facilities are planned as yet, just a lovely wood to enjoy, build shelters, carve spoons and have a campfire using the wood that would be made available from woodland management. Possibility of having a stand pipe for fresh water not to far away - clearly this be useful. Any other essentials?

 

[shaggystu]

you could always work out the costs of having someone camp overnight, add a little for profit (no-one begrudges another man making a living), and set that as your price. it's an alternative to just "getting what you can". but then i am a bit of a socialist at heart

stuart

 

[David Willis]

A very reasonable approach and is in a round about way how we got to £10 - opening up access, admin, checking the site, a little cleaning up, additional woodland management and then taking a longer term view and pushing the price down!

 

[shaggystu]

well there's your answer then mate, a tenner it is. maybe "how many people be prepared to pay a tenner a night" would've been a better question to gauge public interest to help work out the feasability of your project (that is what you're doing isn't it?), but that's by the by really.

best of luck with your venture, i hope it works out well for you, and if ever i should find myself in buckinghamshire and in need of somewhere to pitch my tarp i shall be in touch

stuart

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Any other essentials?

If I'm paying, I would want free hot water, clean toilets with paper provided & an on site pub that provides both hot meals & snacks.

 

[FGYT]

not sure but there maybe min requirements for camp sites even if less than 28 nights

but for me clean water, fire wood and a Toilet would be the min


you cant really have people Cr@ppin in a Public wood any where

dont forget you will need insurance

ATB

Duncan

 

[David Willis]

well there's your answer then mate, a tenner it is. maybe "how many people be prepared to pay a tenner a night" would've been a better question to gauge public interest to help work out the feasability of your project (that is what you're doing isn't it?), but that's by the by really.

best of luck with your venture, i hope it works out well for you, and if ever i should find myself in buckinghamshire and in need of somewhere to pitch my tarp i shall be in touch

stuart

Thanks Stuart, by all means get in touch should you be down in Buckinghamshire - I enjoyed a weekend at Spring Wood in Derbyshire in the summer! That better question will be next, though would like to do a poll - not sure that is possible in this forum.

 

[David Willis]

If I'm paying, I would want free hot water, clean toilets with paper provided & an on site pub that provides both hot meals & snacks.

Not sure that is the kind of Bushcraft we had in mind

 

[David Willis]

not sure but there maybe min requirements for camp sites even if less than 28 nights

but for me clean water, fire wood and a Toilet would be the min


you cant really have people Cr@ppin in a Public wood any where

dont forget you will need insurance

ATB

Duncan

Thanks Duncan,

Are yes the camping rules and regulations...

... insurance is in place and as for a toilet, possibly a composting loo!

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Why not just open a campsite/theme park & be done with it..

 

[Martyn]

Thanks Duncan,

Are yes the camping rules and regulations...

... insurance is in place and as for a toilet, possibly a composting loo!

Composting loo's work really well and are simple to manage and require minimal ground work. You would need to provide wood for fires to stop your campers raping out the woodland of everything that will burn. A standpipe would be useful, but not essential so long as there is access to relatively clean water that could be boiled.

 

[Martyn]

Why not just open a campsite/theme park & be done with it..

Because for those who dont want to break the law by illegal wild camping, there is precious little available. A managed site that offers 99% of the same experience, would do well.

 

[Martyn]

No facilities are planned as yet, just a lovely wood to enjoy, build shelters, carve spoons and have a campfire using the wood that would be made available from woodland management. Possibility of having a stand pipe for fresh water not to far away - clearly this be useful. Any other essentials?

Consider offering the entire site for group bookings on a weekly basis. Some people might pay £300 for a week just to have the place to themselves, or shared with just a few mates.

 

[TurboGirl]

sanitary disposal please

 

[David Willis]

Consider offering the entire site for group bookings on a weekly basis. Some people might pay £300 for a week just to have the place to themselves, or shared with just a few mates.

Thank you Martin, appreciate all your comments and the group / weekly booking idea - nice.

 

[Martyn]

sanitary disposal please

Doesnt fire work for that?