The pretty little UK seaside town that locals fear 'is turning into Cornwall'

A section successful a UK seaside municipality has spoken retired astir the aboriginal of the community. (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

Residents of 1 of the UK's astir beauteous seaside resorts person expressed fears their municipality is astatine hazard of being "destroyed" arsenic it struggles with the benignant of overcrowding much often associated with the likes of Cornwall.

Whitstable connected the northbound seashore of Kent is simply a picturesque seaside municipality known for its coastal walks, autarkic shops and oysters. 

Despite antecedently being named 1 of the fastest-growing seaside resorts, it has inactive managed to clasp onto its unsocial assemblage consciousness that keeps some tourists and locals happy. 

However, the temper is opening to alteration arsenic patience with the ever-growing tourism manufacture wears thin. 

Locals are looking astatine different areas of the state that are struggling to header with overcrowding and overtourism, and fearfulness Whitstable could beryllium connected a slippery slope to akin problems.

Jon Crwys-Williams has lived successful some Cornwall and Whitstable. (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

Cornwall presently outstrips Whitstable, and astir places successful the full country, erstwhile it comes to tourism.

It sees millions of visitors a twelvemonth successful an manufacture that's valued astatine an estimated £2.5bn. 

One antheral who has seen the issues this brings first-hand is Jon Crwys-Williams, who present lives successful Whitstable wherever helium runs Nomad Pizza.

Jon lived successful the Cornish colony of St Agnes with his household earlier moving to the Kent town, truthful has the unsocial position of seeing some seaside resorts grow. 

He warned of one peculiarly unsafe issue facing Whitstable contiguous that could plunge locals into the benignant of overtourism rows seen successful Cornwall - 2nd homes. 

Jon sees 2nd homes arsenic being susceptible of "destroying and killing" Whitstable if determination isn't authorities involution soon to halt their "largely detrimental" impacts.

Whitstable is known for its coastal walks and oysters (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

He told Express.co.uk: "Second homes tin get to a constituent wherever they person an adverse effect connected the community. There's nary question that we don't privation to unrecorded successful a spot similar Cornwall wherever there's a 10 percent occupancy complaint retired of season.

"And determination are places connected the seashore which are similar that - 10, 15, 20 percent occupancy, 80 percent of the clip they're not there. It destroys and kills a community.

"The authorities connected 2nd homes is mediocre and I deliberation determination needs to beryllium tighter regularisation by the authorities and section governments. It's started to hap successful Cornwall and I deliberation it needs to hap here."

Jon recommened involution successful the signifier of sustainability plans and assemblage enactment plans including proposals to enactment guardant to section governments to guarantee that homes spell to section people who volition unrecorded determination permanently. 

He said: "It needs to beryllium taken connected committee by section governments and councils, and perchance a section MP representing it arsenic well."

The contented of tourism successful Whitstable is analyzable due to the fact that not everyone is against it. (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

Jon pointed to the effects of 2nd homes connected different struggling UK resorts extracurricular of Cornwall arsenic an expanding fig of destinations jeopardise "the survival of the community".

He concluded: "Second homes are not a affirmative happening ... [They] tin beryllium mostly detrimental to a assemblage and you person to look astatine North Norfolk, Cornwall, Devon, and Yorkshire adjacent ... In tons of places successful the UK [they] tin beryllium precise detrimental to the section assemblage and the endurance of the community.

"You tin say, 'Let's clasp 2nd homes' but what you extremity up doing is destroying a section assemblage that past doesn't go charismatic for radical to travel down to astatine each due to the fact that it's lost what made it attractive, which is this beardown essense we person successful Whitstable, being a section community." 

Whitstable was antecedently named 1 of fastest increasing UK seaside resorts. (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

However, tourism successful Whitstable is simply a analyzable contented arsenic not each section shares the aforesaid views arsenic Jon. Joanna Lucille Phaur lives successful Whitstable and owns an Airbnb successful Margate, and welcomes tourists arsenic they thrust section economies.

She told Express.co.uk: "Tourist towns person to suck it up really. It's what makes our money.

"There's been a batch of protests against wide tourism this summertime ... [But] if you talk to anyone successful immoderate cafe oregon immoderate edifice ... They cognize that they would person no concern without tourists. I don't cognize who these radical who are aggravated astir it are, but intelligibly they don't person jobs."