Our iconic seaside town is driving out tourists with strict new ban that turns us into CRIMINALS just for doing our job
IT’S the picture perfect seaside town which attracts more than half a million tourists a year.
But a brutal war has broken out behind the scenes in this quaint British holiday hotspot.
Pleasure boat operators – who offer trips round the local coast – say they are being criminalised by strict new restrictions on touting for business.
Operators have run kiosks in the harbour of St Ives, Cornwall, for more than 100 years – but skippers and ticket sellers have recently been confronted by enforcement officers.
They have received £100 fines and threats to increase penalties to £1,000 and pursue criminal action if they keep trading.
It comes after St Ives Town Council changed a policy reducing the number of booths allowed from 16 to 10 and banning them from operating near the lifeboat station.
The council is using Public Spaces Protection Orders – more commonly used to deal with drunk people, aggressive begging and antisocial behaviour – to fine and threaten the business owners.
As a result, tourism operators reported visitor numbers to the South West have plummeted by more than 10 per cent.
George Sanders, 26, who has been working on the boats since he was 13, hit out at the new rules.
He said: “It’s awful! I have five businesses down here and I’ve been stripped of two spots.
“It’s affected my income and ability to employ people. We don’t know what the motive is to do this.
“I don’t think there have been any issues with touts.
“They say we were blocking the lifeboat crew members getting in but we opened the gate for them and cleared people out the way.
“We’ve been fined and our staff have been threatened with criminal records which puts people off coming to work.
“Boat tours are a massive part of St Ives and have been for 100 years. Without them there isn’t much you can do down here.
“We are going to fight it. We are going to have to get solicitors involved which will cost us more money but we have no choice.”
Another business owner John Mursa, 30, operates boat trips to Seal Island.
He says he and his brother Tom have been forced to combine their separate businesses solely because they have the same surname.
John said: “It’s effectively made it impossible for us to trade.
“As well as getting fined hundreds of pounds we’re struggling to keep our staff going. It’s terrible.
“It would destroy the town and the culture if we were gone. It wouldn’t be the same.
“Our grandad was a fisherman who started up the boat trips then it’s passed down through the generations.
“My brother and I operate different companies. He owns his boats and business and I own my boats and business.
“We each have our own staff but we are forced to merge together simply because we share a surname, no other reason, and we have been pushed together.”
Boat skipper Dan Workman, 28, said: “We are getting criminalised for trying to do our jobs.
“From my point of view the new rules mean my boat isn’t going to be full. I don’t know how much money we will lose.
“We will just have to wait and see. We are facing such hostility considering we have always touted in this area.
St Ives Pleasure Boat Association statement
With this crushing news there were lots of worried business owners wondering how we were going to operate this year.
The council came back with a map, with 10 dots on it and said that these were the locations that they would allow booths to tout from and that and businesses that have any links between them – say, for example, the directors are the same – must share a booth, regardless of whether these businesses are completely separate LTD companies.
Our members were obviously not happy with this, given the council had dished out individual business licenses for the past 5 years, so we made a counter-proposal.
Accepting losing the gate to tout from was a big blow, but we took the council’s map and added five or so more dots on it for additional booths in reasonable locations to tout from.
This was immediately shut down by our town council, and we were basically told it’s their way or the highway.
These boats and businesses have been trading here for years and years, and now the council want to shut us all down?
“When you speak to the council it’s clear they don’t understand how much money it costs to maintain a boat and keep it up to regulations.
“They think we are just here for a jolly. It’s very frustrating.”
The RNLI wrote to the council at the end of last year asking that the touts were removed from their gate due to health and safety concerns.
Other businesses in the area had also complained.
But Oliver Sanders, who operates Four Sisters Boat Trips in St Ives, said: “I have spoken to many of the lifeboat crew members who say it was so helpful when we were there because as soon as we see a lifeboat shout we open the gate and get everybody out of the way.
“For the RNLI to say we are getting in their way is completely false.
“We are trying to run our businesses and for doing that I’ve racked up fines and been threatened with a criminal record.
“It’s created a lot of bad feeling that they are using public space protection orders to do this.
“It’s not a good use of time and resources for them. We bring money and tourists into the town.
“People come down here specifically for a boat trip and they are stopping us from doing that.
It would destroy the town and the culture if we were gone.
John Mursa
“We’ve noticed since Covid tourism has dropped off and this has just been a nail in the coffin of the continued decline of our business.
“This could put people out of business.”
Tourism boomed in Cornwall after the Covid-19 pandemic as thousands swarmed the coast for the perfect staycation.
But almost five years after the initial lockdown locals say visitors are are “abandoning” the county for overseas holiday destinations.
St Ives Town Council said: “Changes this year have been brought in by the Town Council in response to concerns from the RNLI, complaints from the public and other businesses along the Wharf about some of the behaviour and number of ticket sellers at the gate.
What are Public Spaces Protection Orders?
PSPOs were introduced in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and are designed to stop individuals or groups committing anti-social behaviour (ASB) in a public space where behaviour is having, or be likely to have, a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality; is persistent or continuing nature; and is unreasonable.
The council can set its own restrictions, requirements and prohibitions depending on what is justified in the circumstances.
When considering a PSPO, specific considerations and consultation procedures will apply.
PSPOs apply to public spaces including towns, parks and housing estates.
Breach of an Order is a criminal offence for which a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of £100 can be issued.
Failure to pay the FPN in full can lead to a fine of up to £1,000 on prosecution.
“The RNLI asked that touts did not trade from the gate and the highway manager was concerned about so many people standing on the road.
“Despite what has been portrayed, the Town Council has issued licences to trade to all but one business.
“All of them are now trading for the season but the RNLI gate is now clear.
“The Town Council believe that it is fair and reasonable for people touting and trading on the highway to be licenced with terms and conditions.
“We believe that it’s what both local people and visitors would expect.
“We do understand that change is difficult and not everyone is happy with the new rules.
“But boat trips are alive and well in St Ives and will continue as they always have.”