Business owners in a popular Cornwall seaside town have been dealt “crushing news” that has left their summer season in the balance with “thousands” of money lost. A number of pleasure boat operators in St Ives, a picturesque seaside town with golden beaches, are furious after the town council introduced a new licensing policy.
The policy aims to control the operators touting for business on the seafront – hitting back St Ives Pleasure Boat Association says this is “a tradition that has been running for decades and has been the backbone of many businesses over the years”. Skippers said their ticket sellers have been confronted by enforcement officers issuing fixed penalty notices of £100 a day with “threats to escalate to £1,000 and a criminal record”.
In a post on Facebook the association says they have tried to negotiate with the council who haven’t given them an “inch” leaving business owners concerned on how they are going to operate.
The post on Facebook read: “In January we were hit with the news that the town council would remove touting from the gate on lifeboat corner, a tradition that has been running for decades and has been the backbone of many businesses over the years.
“With this crushing news there were lots of worried business owners wondering how we were going to operate this year.
“These boats and businesses have been trading here for years and years and now the council want to shut us all down? We emailed back and forth for the next couple of months trying to offer the council solutions but they were sticking to their guns and not even giving us an inch.”
The association added that its eagerly awaited Easter holidays season has been left in “tatters” resulting in “thousands” of money lost.
“With our businesses and start to the season in tatters we walked to the Guildhall with all our staff and calmly tried to explain that all these young people are out of work in this beautiful weather because of the council.
“We made a desperate plea for some temporary licences so we could work the Easter holidays and keep operating whilst the council found a resolution. We were met with a blatant NO and told that if we were caught trading we would be fined and they would take our touting desks away.
“This is now carrying into a second week of the Easter holidays and we have lost thousands already. Two boats have not even craned in due to the uncertainty.”
However, St Ives Town Council has defended its actions, saying the move was instigated following calls from businesses in the town and, particularly, the RNLI, which was concerned about pleasure boat operators touting for business in front of the gate leading to the town’s lifeboat, raising health and safety fears.