THERE’S a new word in the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries which may have missed your attention. The word is “overtourism”- meaning “congestion or overcrowding from an excess of tourists, resulting in conflicts with locals”.
I have a feeling we will be hearing much more about this is the coming years with some of the most popular destinations in Europe, especially in Spain, already seeing protest marches urging holidaymakers to go home.
The word first came to my attention when I received an extremely insulting email asking what Lyme Regis Town Council was going to do about “overtourism”. For several weeks after I took over as mayor, both the town clerk and I were trolled by this individual to a level where we had to report the matter to the police.
We are all conscious that Lyme is one of the most popular tourism destinations in the South West. When the sun shines the hoards pour into our town bringing with them all the challenges the council faces on a daily basis in providing all the services that they expect.
We appreciate that parking is a real issue for Lyme, as is dealing with the hundreds of tons of rubbish visitors leave behind. Much of the responsibility for both issues lie with Dorset Council over which we have no control and little influence.
The fact of the matter is that Lyme’s popularity is down to one factor: the sheer beauty of our town. When the sun shines our car parks are often full to capacity by 10am and in peak season the population of our town explodes from 3,700 to in excess of 20,000.
The economy of Lyme relies totally on the holiday trade with our shops, hotels, pubs and restaurants employing hundreds of locals and many from outside the town.
You only have to follow Rob James’ hugely popular and appropriately named “Love Lyme” website to see how much Lyme is admired. For many regular visitors Lyme is their “happy place”, their “Shangri-La. Many dream of one day living in “the Pearl of Dorset.”
We are not alone in having to deal with “overtourism”; virtually every small resort on the western peninsular suffer from similar problems, including Salcombe, Looe and Padstow.
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AT long last town council staff have office accommodation that is fit for purpose, having moved from Guildhall Cottage 100 yards up Church Street to St Michael’s Business Centre, run by Lyme Regis Development Trust who own the former school building.
When the Town Council came into being after the reorganisation of local government in 1974, its offices were created under the Guildhall, formally an open market and fish shop run by the Gollop family and now the Lyme Rocks sweet shop.
After staff numbers grew on the town council, more office space was required and the offices moved next door to the first floor of the Guildhall Cottage with Dorset County Council taking over the ground floor for the now defunct Tourism Information Centre.
When the county council decided to close the TIC, the town council took over the first floor area. However, the former house was never really suitable for office accommodation and consideration was given to a major refurbishment of the building.
However, the cost of doing so – in excess of £1million - proved to be unacceptable.
The council have taken a 21-year lease on a sizeable area on the ground floor at St Michael’s at a cost substantially less than the cost of the annual repairs at Guildhall Cottage which will soon go on the market so it’s a good bit of business for the town.
Our staff have deserved better working conditions for a long time and I am pleased that we have been able to provide a new home for the council which has long been overdue.