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[MG1]

That sounds terrible guys.

They are my 2 favourite campsites.

I wanna take my 4 year old camping over the holidays. It sounds like Meelmore is the only safe place?

[Scribble]

Reading that is shocking and I will stay well clear until I hear better reports , I went camping with my 5&6 year olds to Franks at bloody bridge and the only nuisance was the donkeys singing about 5 in morning ,

[LandyLiam]

Sounds like DARD are caught betwen a rock and a hard place, and i suspect that the warden isn't paid enough to go and ask a drunken mob to move on at 3am.

[VMCC]

I think the danger is only in sites that have no warden at night time, nor even a contact number for one. It should not put anyone off camping, but it is probably sensible to ensure there is security, either by the sites relative isolation, or by a big man with a big dog.

The thing is that Castlewellan has relatively few rules. There is quiet after 10.30pm and no campfires after 11pm. That's it, and compared to some private campsites that's quite laid back. But when there is nobody there then there may as well be no rules. The rules aren't there to piss people off, they're just there to make sure that no-ones dearly paid for stay is ruined because of other people thinking they have more rights, or are more important than them.

I enjoy a barbecue and a few drinks too, but if someone said I was a bit on the noisy side I would be embarrassed and apologetic. If it happens (and is has, on occasion) it's not be being malicious it's me having one glass too many and I'll shut up the instant I'm told to. I wouldn't turn it up, call the person every name under the sun and subject their children to the language and the talk of blow jobs and the threat to rape their mother. It can't be normal to do that.

Anyway strongly worded email has been sent to the Forest Commission. Hopefully someone will catch on that it's cheaper to hire in security that to clear up the mess after a party or in lost revenue due to bad campsite reviews and everyone staying away.

[suspectmonkey]

I feel fairly strongly about what happened at the weekend, and I think it's even more shocking that there are several people from the same forum who have suffered similar problems at two different campsites.  Personally I don't envy the job of the wardens, but as VMCC says by having no over-night warden they may as well have no rules.  There should be someone there, either Forest Service staff or a hired security firm, to provide at least some sort of presence to deter anti-social behaviour.  It's not going to work everytime, but for those situations were things get out of hand then the night-time warden should have the ability to get the police down and deal with it.  I regret not phoning the police to complain during the night, because if the same behaviour was occuring outside my house on any evening I would be on the phone like a shot!

Anyway, I've put together a blog post about this as a bit of a rant/vent: http://www.jonpatterson.co.uk/2011/asb-public-campsites/

[Spark]

I'm really disappointed to hear this about these camp-sites, I also was going to go up to Castlewellan over the Easter weekend as I was going to bring my 8 year old who has aspergers on his first camping trip and thought there might be more to do around there than Meelmore but that would just scare the life out of him, so think I will stick to Meelmore as I have not had a bad night there yet, they keep 2 men there on the gate throughout the night..!

[VMCC]

Good blog suspectmonkey. Hopefully someone at DARD will sit up and listen.

[Spud]

castlewellan and tollymore have both been subject to this sort of thing for years unfortunately, and its a real shame because they are both beautiful places to camp, but with no wardens around at night and no locked gates then this sort of scum cannot be kept out, and will just ruin it for everyone else (some of them take pleasure in causing as much noise etc as they possibly can!) Sorry that you guys had to put up with this treatment in our lovely down district, I can assure you we arent all like that!

[Matthew]

In fairness to Tollymore we recieved a full refund and the wardens were very sorry that we had such a bad night.

I submitted a formal complaint to the ranger and the e mail i addressed to
 cmb@drdni.gov.uk
From the DRD website the following information can be found.



Formal Procedures - Step 1

As a first step you should contact the Head of Central Management Branch (CMB) verbally, in writing or on our "online complaints form", giving full details of the complaint. Where you make a verbal complaint and this is particularly detailed, we may ask you to put the complaint in writing. This Officer will arrange for your complaint to be investigated and will aim to provide a full written reply within 15 working days of receiving it. If a full reply cannot be given within this timescale, you will be advised of progress and told when you can expect a full response.

You can write to the Head of CMB at:

The Head of CMB
DRD Central Management Branch
Room 4-13c
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8GB.

Telephone: (028) 9054 1143
Fax: (028) 9054 0642
E-mail - cmb@drdni.gov.uk


Formal Procedures - Step 2

If you are not satisfied with the Head of CMB's reply you can contact the Department's Head of the North South, Equality, Policy Co-ordination Directorate, again giving full details of your complaint.  The Head of the Directorate will review your case and respond within the timescales as set out in Step 1

You can write to the Head of the North South, Equality, Policy Co-ordination Directorate at:

Head of the North South, Equality, Policy Co-ordination Directorate
DRD
Room 417
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8GB

Tel: (028) 9054 0180
Fax: (028) 9054 0642
Email: brendan.devlin@drdni.gov.uk

[VMCC]

Oh dear, I have emailed customer.forestservice@dardni.gov.uk - I didn't find the information you did. I will resend my email (it's like a book unfortunately) to that CMB address.

[VMCC]

Heres some interesting info, from Trip Advisor..... http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186476-d212595-Reviews-Castlewellan_Forest_Park-Castlewellan_County_Down_Northern_Ireland.html

Dated 1st August 06' "Although during the day the site is fabulous and the facilities excellent, at night the site was very noisy and not secure. No gates are locked and no night security are on duty. We went late July and had to leave early. Many families left whilst we where there. During our stay we did not feel safe and we had three children in our party.


Dated 3rd Sept 07' "....if you want to ask thieves to come and steal your children in the middle of the night, then the caravan site is your perfect opportunity! The gates are rarely locked from what I could tell and I know there's nothing to stop youths walking around the forest and grounds at all hours. This can cause alot of insecurities for those staying in the caravans.

Although the grounds are beautiful during the day, and the park is a superb day out, staying there may, just MAY be a tad risky. As lovely as it is, and as fond as i am of it, caravans beware!"

Anyway I feel another review coming on...but what is going on that these two flagged up exactly the same problems six years ago! I wish I'd looked at Trip Advisor before going to Castlewellan now.

[Matthew]

I would e mail brendan.devlin@drdni.gov.uk he seems like the top guy. Depending on how you are feeling email the local papers, nonsens has to stop.

One of the police said to me on Sat.... the last time I was here was because somone was stabbed..... totally nuts

[suspectmonkey]

I thought the Forest Service fell under DARD rather than DRD?  Or are they the same thing?  I e-mailed my complaint to the following addresses:

customer.forestservice@dardni.gov.uk
dardhelpline@dardni.gov.uk

I've also copied the contents of my blog post to BBC Newsline, UTV Live and the Mourne Observer to see if any of them are willing to pick up on the story.  It's a long shot, but might go someway towards the local authorities taking some notice of this issue.

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