Friday, October 07, 2011

Tourism charge for Purbeck? Meeting 12 October

Should tourists contribute to improving transport infrastructure in Purbeck?

This is NOT a general public meeting for everyone, but for those representing organisations working in tourism.

Purbeck District Council are exploring whether tourists should provide a contribution to improvements to transport infrastructure in Purbeck and would value your input at a workshop on Wednesday 12 October 2011 at Morden Village Hall.
Currently only new development, e.g. houses, is required to contribute to transport infrastructure, but the Council is considering expanding the policy to generate income from tourists who visit Purbeck by car and add pressure to the road network.
A number of options have been suggested:
 congestion charging
 a levy on tourism accommodation
 a levy on car parking
 a levy on tourist attractions, and
 voluntary contributions
This is not a full consultation but a workshop to get feedback from representatives from the tourism sector as to whether these preliminary proposals could work in practice. If you are the appropriate person in your organisation to attend please pass this invitation on.
AGENDA
10.30am Meet and greet with tea/coffee
11.00am Presentation by Steve Dring, Planning Policy Manager, Purbeck District Council
11.30am Workshop to discuss the proposals
12.30pm Feedback
1.00pm Close
Please book your place, preferably by email, by 7 October 2011.Contact: suebellamy@purbeck-dc.gov.uk

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is insanity. Less and less tourists so tax them more?
A sensible solution would be to provide great sports facilities, car parking, cultural events, public transport and other tourist attractions. Offer say 50% off on fees for these if you have a tourist card. Tourist cards available on demand from hoteliers, b&bs, camp sites and the like when you stay with them. Accommodation providers pay for the cards. A self collecting tax. Tourism tax by mutual consent.
Can't attend, not in any organisation.
nickthefish

Anonymous said...

If you want to make money out of tourists then let locals sell them steak and chips, accommodation, mooring spaces, a second home, a stick of rock, or whatever. Provide an environment where private enterprise can prosper. Taxes from the businesses which make money/pay rates will roll in. What is this sudden need for improvements to transport infrastructure anyway? And what is exactly proposed to do with this money? The Sanford bypass has been scrapped.

Anonymous said...

Any local tourist tax should be properly publicised so tourists make an informed choice, but this may be simply achieved by issuing a press release. A potential downside for PDC is that it could well become the object of nationwide scorn and ridicule.

Anonymous said...

Tourists travel A351 to Corfe, turn left at the Castle, and head to the nudie beach at Studland.

Swanage is good for a few cans of bevies if they missed the Tower park Tesco. The shop at Studland has bevvies, too , but at a price.

Anonymous said...

"provide a contribution to improvements to transport infrastructure"
Like what? We can't make a judgment on this 'till we know what is proposed. Deckchair and ice cream taxes seem a little harsh for someone for example walking the SW coastal path

Anonymous said...

Well, isn't this interesting? PDC claim that the A351 has enough capacity to easily cope with an additional 2400 houses in the district. If that is the case then there isn't any congestion problem is there? So why tax innocent tourists?

Anonymous said...

"So why tax innocent tourists"
exactly, and they may try to tax us back!
Like a trade war!!!

Anonymous said...

So will this tourist tax be instead of or in addition to the window tax?
Has PDC/DCC ever thought of cutting wastefull spending instead of raising taxes?

Anonymous said...

Just back from France and I didn't mind paying their tourist tax at all.

What y'all saying is that people come here cuz it's cheap; well, with an attitude like that, nothing's gunna change, which'll probably make many of you very happy

Anonymous said...

Yea, great idea. Let's put people off coming to Purbeck all together.

That way the area can continue to fail, and essentially become God's Waiting Room.

Bloody hell, who's idea was this.

Tourism is one of the area main industries, so why are we trying to implement something that would hinder that industry?

Anonymous said...

Great idea to put this up so close to the deadline that it could be missed.

Thanks PDC, as someone in the tourist trade I would have loved to attend and share my thoughts.

Now I doubt I'll be able to arrange staff to cover me to pop along for tea, cake and a rant.

David Furmage said...

Why does everything have to revolve around the iron coffins of the road .... The car:(

Why is there no decent cycle paths or footpaths around here? We always seem to live around the car. With high taxes , higher fuel costs , you would think that people would get it into their petrol fuelled heads that building big roads anit going to solve everything:(

Anonymous said...

"A sensible solution would be to provide great sports facilities, car parking, cultural events, public transport and other tourist attractions."

Paid for by what exactly? The whole point about the tourist tax in France is that it is hypothocated for precisely these uses.

Isn't it odd that France has the largest tourism industry in Europe despite taxing it, having high employment costs and being a republic! All thing we are told make it impossible to succeed in tourism. Don't panic though, nobody has the power to impose a new tax except parliament and theres no sign of it happening.

Anonymous said...

Morden, why is the meeting at Morden, when the majority of tourists come to Swanage?? Will there be a similar meeting in Swanage?

Anonymous said...

"Paid for by what exactly?"
You answered your own question. For ever £100,000 of income from the tax, the administering body, be it PDC or a sensible one, could raise £2M by issuing 5% bonds.

Anonymous said...

More public debt? An interesting notion to advocate amidst a panic about there being excessive public debt. Clearly you are deeply skeptical about the central doctrine of government policy. "Thats very brave Minister" as Sir Humphrey used to put it.

Anonymous said...

On the subject of cost cutting and debt: why is it that the car parks in Wareham are policed by traffic wardens, whilst the Swanage Town Council has to employ Starsky and Hutch to do the job?

Anonymous said...

Because the car parks in Wareham belong to the district council. Ours were kept in the hands of the town council when it was set up in order to prevent Swanage asserts coming under the control of an organisation with its office in Wareham, home of the traditional enemy, nemesis, bogey man etc etc.

Anonymous said...

So waht happened