Our picturesque seaside town is being ruined by second homeowners… there are more tourists than locals
LOCALS in a picturesque seaside town say it’s being ruined by second homeowners.
Those living in Portloe, Cornwall, are at their wits end as tourists trump residents ever since it became a haven for holiday properties.
Dubbed the “second home paradise”, the picture perfect harbour village has been transformed into a hellhole for people who live there.
Dave Rounsevell, who has been in the area his whole life, said there is only two fishermen left working in the village – as all the locals have moved out of the centre.
He told CornwallLive: “You can count the families on one hand now, certainly in the centre of the village.
“Anyone who is a resident is more likely to live on the way out of the village.
“The centre of the village … no. It’s pretty much all second or holiday homes.”
Despite admitting there is still a mixture of locals and holidaymakers, Dave said the vast majority are visitors and something is “dreadfully wrong” with that.
He added: “When you reach the point that you have here, when you can count the families on one hand through the middle of the village, then something is dreadfully wrong.
“It’s a nonsense when you’ve got around 25 to 30 houses in this village which are unoccupied for the large part of the year and then they go and build 25 or 30 in a neighbouring village to try and fill the gap.”
It comes after some residents moaned about tourists visiting their hometowns.
Homeowners in Bournemouth fear it’s being ruined by tourists camping on the beach.
And people living further west along the coast in Cornwall complained about boozy youths ruining the peace in their seaside resort Polzeath.
Londoners have been blamed for making Kent seaside town Margate a “dirty mess” while tourists have also been condemned for their impact on Eastbourne in neighbouring East Sussex.
Further north, protests about not only tourists but also second home-buyers were made in Bamburgh on the Northumberland coast.