LOCALS say their pretty town is being ruined by tourists and second home-owners accused of running amok with “parties and pop-up brothels”.
Council chiefs in historic Cambridge have been urged to crack down on an influx of rowdy newcomers horrifying homeowners.
Locals warn the university town on the River Cam is being ruined by intruders[/caption]
Critics say the university city on the River Cam is being over-run by visitors including raucous stag weekend and hen party mobs.
And they blamed a surge in Airbnb and short-term lets spreading across Cambridge, including what’ve been dubbed “pop-up brothels”.
They also fear too many second home-owners have swarmed in.
Councillors have now voted in favour of new measures giving greater control of short-term lets, Cambridge News reported.
Concerns about too many homes being converted into Airbnb accommodation and holiday lets were highlighted at a Cambridge City Council meeting.
Liberal Democrats councillor Karen Young called for more government regulation, after hearing despair from locals about rowdy revellers.
She said: “There is an enormous amount of stress for residents, affecting their quality of life, by the existence of short-term letting in the city.
“People are residents for such a short time – they are not invested in being good neighbours and building good relations with those living next door.
“This means unrestrained behaviour with parties, noise and rudeness to neighbours.”
She also raised concerns about “rogue landlords” leaving people in “unsuitable accommodation” while taking homes out of “the long-term housing market” and turning Cambridge into “a museum town”.
The Green Party‘s Naomi Bennett condemned what she called homes being “let to a stag party or what appears to be a pop-up brothel or worse”.
Katie Thornburrow, from the council’s ruling Labour group, insisted theirs was the first local authority outside London to successfully defend an appeal against enforcement targeting a short-term let.
An amended council motion was backed committing councillors to work on tackling problems and lobbying MPs for tougher powers.
Spanish holiday hotspot Seville is bringing in stricter new measures targeting stag and hen parties.
Elsewhere in Britain there have been other complaints about tourists invading treasured villages, towns and cities.
People in Bournemouth say their seaside town is being marred by holiday-makers camping on the beach in Dorset – with local councillors dropping plans to impose on-the-spot fines.
Similar concerns have been raised in nearby Chesil Beach, while another seaside town described as a “disgusting tent city” is Plymouth in Devon.
Boozy youths arriving and ruining the peace have prompted anger further west along the coast in Cornwall.
Visitors from London have been condemend for turning Margate in Kent into a “dirty mess” while tourists are also unpopular in Eastbourne in neighbouring East Sussex.
Further north, there has been upset about not only tourists but also second home-buyers in Bamburgh on the Northumberland coast.
The Rose Crescent in Cambridge’s city centre, popular with stag and hen parties[/caption]
