Stay away from your holiday home, say ministers after rural backlash
Government urges people to stay in main residence as visitors to national parks ignore guidelines
HOLIDAY Home-owners have been advised by the Government against escaping to their second properties during the coronavirus outbreak.
Updated advice from the culture department says essential travel does not include visits to second homes, camp sites, caravan parks or similar, whether for isolation purposes or holidays and that people should remain in their primary residence.
Yesterday there was a backlash against people ignoring social distancing as members of rural communities told visitors to “go home”, with parks and beauty spots packed with visitors.
Some tourist destinations and National Parks saw their busiest ever days at the weekend as people ignored the advice to stay two metres apart in order to enjoy the sunshine. The National Trust, the Royal Horticultural Society and a London council were among those to announce they are to close all their venues because they could not guarantee the safety of visitors after numbers rocketed.
The Mothering Sunday influx even led to tourism boards asking people to stay away, with Visit Wales putting out the message: “Visit Wales. Later.”
There are concerns that an increase in people travelling into rural communities, which already have a high proportion of elderly residents, will put unsustainable pressure on local health and social care services and shops.
Some rural communities have warned of people attempting to isolate themselves in remote areas, amid petitions for caravan parks to be closed.
Judy Murray, the mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie, posted on Twitter a simple message to “those relocating to the countryside”: a picture of a car and trailer with “Go home idiots” and “Covid-19” painted on the side.
Other social media users shared pictures and videos of packed parks and car parks as they described people as “covidiots”.
Boris Johnson said last night that the Government would be thinking “very actively” in the next 24 hours about taking further measures to ensure social distancing. The culture department said in its advice to avoid holiday homes that “not taking these steps puts additional pressure on communities and services that are already at risk”.
Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, said people needed to realise it “isn’t a game”, after reports of crowds flocking to seaside resorts.
“It is very serious,” he told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme on Sky News. “People need to follow that (medical) advice. If people don’t follow that advice then clearly we’ll have to
consider other options, but none of us want to go down that route.”
Yesterday, the National Trust said it would close all parks, gardens, houses, shops and cafés, as well as car parks for countryside and coastal locations.
Hilary Mcgrady, the director-general, said the trust would be taking measures to ensure that people do not lose their connection with nature, and that the sites of natural beauty remain open “virtually”.
Snowdonia National Park Authority said its area “experienced its busiest ever visitor day in living memory” on Saturday, with so many people that it was “impossible to maintain effective social distancing”.
Chatsworth House, Whipsnade Zoo and the Yorkshire Wildlife Park also announced they would be closing. Some DIY stores and garden centres reported being busier than on bank holiday weekends, when visitor numbers are normally at their peak.
Britain is not the first country to witness a rush to beauty spots, with visitor destinations across the world being overwhelmed. The Australian government closed Bondi Beach in Sydney at the weekend because of overcrowding.
It was not just rural areas and beauty spots that experienced high numbers of visitors. Londoners were criticised for attending “packed” markets, including in Victoria Park and the Flower Market in Columbia Road.
Hammersmith and Fulham council announced that as of 7pm last night all parks in the borough would be closed until further notice, adding: “Please stay home, save lives.” The Royal Parks closed their sites on the outskirts of London to all traffic, along with all remaining takeaway cafés and kiosks as “people are not adhering to social distancing guidelines”.
A spokesman warned that they were keeping the situation under review and if the rules continued to be ignored “we will have no choice but to consider closing the parks”.
Many were concerned that with London the most badly hit part of the UK, and with schools closed, the situation in the countryside will get worse unless action is taken. Kate Forbes, the SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, said there “has been an influx of campervans and traffic with people living in cities to what they think is selfisolation. But this is not a wilderness, this is a place where people live.”
George Freeman, the MP for Mid Norfolk, wrote on Twitter: “To those people with 2nd homes in Norfolk: PLS DONT flee London to come to Norfolk” as they risked “spreading the virus”.
Duncan Baker, the MP for North Norfolk, made an “urgent plea”. “It is not what I ever thought I would have to say, but turning away visitors is paramount at this time,” he said.
The area had a “higher degree of elderly in our population” and holidaymakers would put a strain on “local food provision”, he added.
The British Holiday & Home Parks Association last night contacted its members who own and manage about 2,900 holiday and touring parks and strongly advised that they should close to all visitors, including those with touring caravans, motorhomes and tents, as well as self-caterers.
Nicola Sturgeon moved to stem a flood of people into the Highlands by barring them taking ferries to the islands and telling all accommodation providers to stop accepting visitors.
The Scottish First Minister said all hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and self-catering providers should house only staff and essential workers.
Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, warned: “Social distancing includes avoiding all but essential travel and if people don’t follow this advice we will have no choice but to use powers to enforce it.”
‘Freedom can only really be preserved if everybody acts responsibly and conforms with those principles of staying apart’
‘There has been an influx of campervans and traffic. But this is not a wilderness, this is a place where people live’