Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2014 14:30:51 GMT
It was raised at the AGM that we never seem to have a fly-in to the North-West of the county and in my time in the club I do not recall flying anywhere North-West of Maidstone. So I have been looking at various places to fly nearer to London – most have not worked out too well, ( toilets, size, parking, power lines all being an issue) however Swanley does have a number of positive aspects going for it.
1. It is not too far from a motorway for those travelling some distance.
2. There are toilets (with a second toilet block being built over the next year).
3. There is plenty of car-parking with a spill-over being proposed for the summer months.
4. A small cafe.
5. It is a very popular park so plenty of exposure for the club.
6. The events co-ordinator for the park is very active and there are a number of events we could appear at (more club exposure) with on-field parking at the flying point.
7. Swanley is centrally situated for those members residing in the NW of the county.
On the downside – parking is £2 a car, the whole park is surrounded with trees and housing with no clean winds at low levels, the distance from flying area to car park is similar to that of Mote Park, car security could be an issue.
It may well turn out that it is not suitable for our purpose or to everyone’s taste or approval, however it certainly does have potential and a fly-in there would give us an opportunity to mix with a section of the public who have probably never heard of us or seen us before.
It may be that parking is always going to be awkward at popular places, but maybe popular places should be the places where we are flying to get the club maximum exposure, mixing it with the public and getting others interested in Kite flying.
