Midland couple feel wrath of St Ives locals with ‘Holibobs’ cottage
A MIDLAND couple have sparked outrage in the seaside town where they have bought a holiday home.
Their heinous offence? They have named the cottage ‘HOLIBOBS’.
Residents of St Ives, Cornwall, saw red after an image of Tony and Doreen Perrins’ property was shared on social media.
One was moved to post: “A crime has been committed in St Ives.”
Another demanded: “Triple council tax for this one please.”
“I bet it’s a great place to celebrate Crimbo,” tweeted a critic sarcastically. “Time to go back to workypoos.”
The row follows simmering bad blood between the natives of St Ives and inland “invaders” who have purchased weekend homes in the picturesque town.
Now Mr and Mrs Perrins, both in their 70s, and from the Cotswolds, have hit back. Those who have posted critical remarks should “get a life”, say
the the couple. The property is nestled in one of the town’s narrow cobbled streets, surrounded by other holiday homes.
“It is called Holibobs Cottage because our eldest grandson, who is now 12, is the one who named it,” says Mr Perrins. “It was going to be Oscar’s cottage but we have five grandchildren and that would have divided the nation.
“We have had the cottage for 12 years, so since the year he was born, but we named it around five years ago. They used to always say we are going on holibobs. It is something they picked up from kids at school and it has stuck ever since.
“People often walk past and comment about it, but always in an amusing and pleasant way.”
The couple, in their 70s, originally purchased the property in St Ives with the intention of living in it fulltime.
They said they bought it in an “awful state” and spent their weekends travelling down to Cornwall and doing it up all by themselves.
“Initially, we were going to live here and I spent a lot of time living here when we were doing it up,” says Tony.
“We did it all ourselves but we were unsure so we kept it as a bolt-hole.
“It has undergone quite the transformation. We renovated it for about four years and used to come down every weekend between working.”
Mrs Perrins added: “I can’t see a problem personally. They should get a life.”
Local Pam Kinsey said: “I don’t mind people having holidays, I’m very pleased for them, I don’t blame them for coming here.”
She added that she had followed the saga of second-home owners buying up the coast’s prettiest towns over the last few decades and of prices rocketing far out of reach of her children and grandchildren.
“I think it’s the councils and the planning people that have allowed it to happen, and they’re to blame,” she said. “They’re ruining St Ives, it’s losing character.”
The town has long been at the centre of debate on the impact of both tourism and moneyed Brits.
Residents voted against any more new homes being built for secondhome owners in a 2016 referendum.