North Berwick Community Council to object to visitor levy

The local authority is currently consulting on plans to introduce a five per cent charge on the cost of overnight accommodation in the county, with the aim of raising funds to support tourism-related services and infrastructure.

Early engagement has already taken place, including a visitor survey indicating that most day-trippers and holidaymakers would support paying a small additional charge.

However, during a discussion at the community council's latest meeting, concerns were raised that the levy represented "a tax on a tax" for businesses that were already asking for support.

During a discussion on its response, Kenny Miller, chair of the community council, said: "Our hospitality at the moment is hit hard enough with the parking management scheme and the levy is just another layer of administration that will discourage people to come here.”

North Berwick was described as different from major international visitor destinations such as Edinburgh and the Highlands, in which the councillors could see a reason for the levy to come into place.

Ross Richardson, community councillor, said: “We’re in this fragile end of that whole tourism spectrum.

“I think we should object because we aren’t what I would call mainstream tourism for foreigners, we’re more local people coming here looking for a break."

Concern was also raised that revenue from the levy could be spread across East Lothian rather than invested directly in North Berwick and the local visitor economy.

Bill Macnair, community councillor, said: “What I read on the consultation is the council have discretion over us and spreading it far away.

“I just think all these levies and taxes will be too many. It’s going to be very, very hard to run a business.”

NBCC also questioned whether sufficient information had been provided about how the proceeds would be spent.

“If it was 100 per cent ringfenced for certain things, it’s just, to me, I see it as a gathering of money, and then what are we going to do with it?” Mr Macnair added.

Community councillors also criticised the consultation’s questions on alternative levy structures, claiming that there was no straightforward option for respondents to say they opposed the levy altogether.

Mr Miller said: “There’s no answer for no levy… they won’t get the answer, which is what most people include, which is no levy at all.”

The community council agreed to formally object the proposal to introduce a visitor levy.

A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: " The proposed five per cent rate is part of the draft scheme currently being consulted on and no final decision has been taken on either introducing a levy or its final design.

"The levy itself would be paid by the visitor rather than being a direct charge on accommodation businesses, although we recognise that businesses may face administrative and systems costs in collecting and remitting it. Those practical impacts are an important part of the consultation.

“Previous research undertaken with visitors to East Lothian found a high level of acceptance of the principle of a visitor levy, particularly where people could see that the money raised would be reinvested in facilities, services and infrastructure that support the visitor experience and wider visitor economy.

“We have already received constructive feedback from accommodation providers, including the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers and businesses operating a significant proportion of overnight accommodation in East Lothian.

"That feedback will be carefully considered alongside all other consultation responses and has already helped us identify opportunities to provide additional clarification and information during the consultation process.

"The consultation remains open until September 18 and members of the visitor levy team will continue discussions with accommodation providers and other stakeholders over the coming weeks.”