Western Isles plan to levy tax on motorhome visitors

[DelMar]

In a word yes. Nothing is free, not even that. In our area for example, tourists love to use our gorgeous sandy beaches, walk away at the end of the day leaving a mess sometimes including glass, to be cleaned up by the council. Therefore at local residents cost, is that what you want, is that fair.

 

[nicholsong]

In a word yes. Nothing is free, not even that. In our area for example, tourists love to use our gorgeous sandy beaches, walk away at the end of the day leaving a mess sometimes including glass, to be cleaned up by the council. Therefore at local residents cost, is that what you want, is that fair.

Equally it would tax those who, being self-sufficient, come, use nothing and leave nothing,

Is that fair?

 

[Reallyretired]

I would hazard a guess that the U.K. tax take is disproportionately spent down south. I cannot in any way prove this but the likes of cross rail and HS2 seem to point in that direction.

HS2 is not in the south, or at least what I consider South.
Even Crossrail which is only in London, which many people don't think is even part of the UK, certainly not the South.

 

[DelMar]

When people tour they usually spend money, that’s what we do. Not enjoy an area and not cotribute.

 

[Coolcats]

Life isn’t fair and it never was…quote from A Soldiers Poem…Muse

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DelMar]

Of course life isn’t fair, but we are talking tourist tax, not life.

 

[Stoosal]

In a word yes. Nothing is free, not even that. In our area for example, tourists love to use our gorgeous sandy beaches, walk away at the end of the day leaving a mess sometimes including glass, to be cleaned up by the council. Therefore at local residents cost, is that what you want, is that fair.

I pay tax on earnings. I pay council tax and so on.

I live in a rural area with few resources. Is it fair that my taxes pay for those other areas with better facilities such as tube stations, railways, bus services, street lighting and so on….once you start the extra local taxes where do you want to stop.

Perhaps a tax on those living in scenic areas who enjoy the benefit of it or the closeness to a gorgeous sandy beach. That must be worth paying for?

Will western islanders pay a tax when they use the mainland facilities. They are, after all going to use another councils facilities then leave and somebody else will need to resource their visit?

Perhaps Welsh people will pay a tourist tax as soon as they cross the border and use neighbouring councils facilities.

We all pay for the countries infrastructure and facilities already. Why should we pay again?

I understand the pressures some areas have but taxing more is not the answer….. better infrastructure is together with a more equitable distribution of budgets to these areas.

 

[cyberyacht]

ISTM that as there is little revenue to be generated from hotel/campsite visitors which wouldn't capture ad hoc wild campers, perhaps the only fair way is a 'disembarkation tax' for any who are not island residents. Tourist tax in France was only a nominal per night figure. Shouldn't be too difficult to assess the amount of tax due based on the return sailing date. Just don't make it some ridiculous figure or people just won't come at all.

 

[CazPaul]

I don’t think anyone would have the courage to introduce a tourist tax at the minute, with the inflation, fuel prices, utilities massive hike etc.

 

[DelMar]

Don’t bring nationalities into this argument as it is about tourist tax, whether you like it or not. Where you live is your choice, you obviously had your reasons. As for paying more tax because we live near some gorgeous beaches, we already do, it’s called council tax, this is banded for that reason, all that is taken into account. We are talking a nominal sum as a tourist, not a fortune it would help.
When tourists leave our beaches at the end of a beautiful day, they also leave a mess, the cost of clean up falls on the local population.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Stoosal]

 

[Coolcats]

Of course life isn’t fair, but we are talking tourist tax, not life.

I am pretty sure Toiurists are very much alive, the issue being development of or development in, two very different things that affect the lives of locals. Its not the first time that tourism has damaged a local community.

Grasmere is an example of a tourist hot spot and yet the everything people go for is to see a lakeland village yet its dead in terms of local people living there, it is now a Disney construct Holiday rentals and tourists shops, this is an example of how tourism has, I would suggest disrupted a local community to the extent they do not live there.

 

[PaulC70]

There's already a crippling motorhome tax to visit the western isles.
It's called Caledonian MacBrayne!

You can nit pick whatever you like, but a tourist is a visitor to an area, who doesn’t live there. If you can afford to visit a tourist area and use their infrastructure and want them to survive, why not pay a nominal sum as we do abroad. When on a camp site in France for example, you pay an added tourist tax and don’t even notice it.
There is a call in this country by motorhome owners for aires to be provided. Who will pay for them? people local to the area or the people who want them provided, via a tourist tax. We cannot have everything we want for free.
Camp site visitors, hotel visitors, guest house visitors and cottage lets would all pay.

What a lot of wank. We already pay taxes, simple. Why would you pay extra just to visit somewhere?
You talk of aires in the UK, umm it's obvious the people who build them will pay for them, then they charge for their use, it's called a business.

Just done a comparison quote for Ullapool to Stornaway return with my motorhome and my car.
Motorhome @ 7.5m = £319.80
Car @ 5m = £152.50.

Motorhome is 50% longer than my car.
Fare is 108% more.

We are already penalised over and above other visitors. They should use that excessive punitive increase in fares to subsidise facilities.

Yes well, they upped it quite a lot for any motorhomes over 6m late last year. Main reason I didn't go to the western isles this time round in fact. Instead spent about 2 grand in the mainland and orkney instead.

 

[DelMar]

I notice you left out my comment on the cost to locals of beach clean up.

 

[Feltwell]

Last time I was on Harris, parking spaces for motorhomes had been set up for which the extremely low fee of £5 per night was being asked for, to be credited to a PayPal account if I remember rightly. All done on trust, just a sign asking for this.

They had clearly had to use a good few tons of stone and heavy machinery to set up some of these parking spots, it would take a lot of £5 to pay for them. Others were just existing laybys.

We were very careful to pay our £5, if we had no phone reception we'd wait until we moved the next day to pay - but - I wonder how many don't bother? There are some very tight folks out there. The locals were providing us with a resource for which we should pay our due if we use them.

We did use the food shop and post office down in Leverburgh, and the fish and chip van! There was a really friendly community shop near Uig as well, who had a little laundry and did service washes - clearly catering for the tourists, who were mostly in motorhomes when we were there.

I'd be more than happy to pay a modest "tourist tax" if it helps to support local infrastructure. It's pretty common in other countries, often added to campsite & hotel fees. I've never seen it be anything other than a modest amount.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}