'We will decide when the lakes are open' AIBU to be irritated?

[Aberforthsgoat]

Just been on the phone to my cousin who lives in the Lakes. We were discussing how Cumbria has been really badly hit; I was saying how gutted we are to miss our Lakes holidays this year but how I hope it gets under control for the residents, and we are so looking forward to being able to go when we can.
My cousin said 'IF you can come'
And I acknowledged that of course, we would absolutely not come until it's safe for everyone to do so and government says we can; even then we would make our own risk judgement
My cousin responded by saying, quite smugly 'it doesn't matter what the government says,the people who live here will decide when its open, we are keeping people out at the moment'
She proceeded to tell me how much they all hate tourists and how they would blockade to keep people out if the government lets people visit too soon

I understand it must be scary and I would be worried if I live there too but AIBU for thinking this is quite a nasty reaction?! It's made me feel like actually maybe I won't go back, which I know is petulant and cutting off my nose to spite my face, but it's left a bad taste.

I had no intention of finding a loophole so I could go, I was talking about next year or the year after hopefully!

It's interesting that all the bile is directed at people who want to visit and spend money in these areas

I'm perfectly happy for tourists to come here and spend their money. But I can understand why noone wants them quite yet! Hopefully by end July cv will be controlled well and then tourists will be very welcome. It's really not that hard to understand.

@Iwalkinmyclothing, excellently put.

Places like Cumbria and Cornwall need tourist income. And their infrastructure has been starved by successive governments so why the actual fuck did Cornwall return six Conservatives?

Unfortunately the reason people have died is because there is a global pandemic. Yes we can do our best as a country to lessen its effects but we can't utterly close down tourist areas for a whole season without many more long lasting and complex problems. It will be like having three winters in row.

don't see anyone angry that NZ have said no tourists.

You do understand that NZ is a distant foreign country and Cumbria is just another part of the UK, right?

The council don't really give a toss, to be fair! ours does! Village a few.miles away were told to remove theirs and put up "educational" signs about hand washing and social distancing instead.

Iwalkinmyclothing the principle is the same!

@itonyah maybe then that beach needs some sort of risk mitigation plan developing by the council and/or closing off (to everyone) if it's not possible to ensure social distancing will be maintained in the access path (see also: birling gap which is accessed by a relatively narrow set of stairs). Or, just recognising that it's highly unlikely that transmission will occur in that scenario. In a study with over 7,000 participants they only found one incidence of outdoor transmission in China - two men talking together (presumably face to face and for a period of minutes rather than briefly passing each other).

There are also plenty of places where it's possible to maintain social distancing.

don't see anyone angry that NZ have said no tourists.

You don't know that no one is angry in NZ. Besides, they are looking at a reciprocal arrangement with Australia which will allow visitors in and out of the other country. Australians make up the biggest numbers of NZ tourists.

ferretface yes I agree and I also agree with you that they should open car parks and loos.

Just wish visitors hadn't descended en masse and it could have been a bit more steady as things calm down. Still lots of deaths and cases today.

So we have a family second home in Cumbria that used to be a relatives primary resident but has stayed in the family (does that make sense) In laws went over for the day the other day (it's about an hour from them and there was a maintenance issue to sort) said everyone was friendly although it was very quiet. They let it out occasionally when family aren't using it and the agency they use have said cautiously hopeful for mid July. I think like a lot of things it is being blown out of proportion as in that they weren't chased out of the lakes by locals with pitchforks..

@ITonyah agreed - I think the weather has been a big contributing factor, if allowing daytrips had not coincided with a period of good weather it probably wouldn't feel like such a dramatic change. I think it also depends how an area was affected by lockdown - e.g. some parks in London have been quite busy throughout the lockdown because people have limited space to do exercise, people there might be a bit less worried by the release of lockdown because there hasn't been a period of near deserted followed by tourists/daytrippers returning.

I was born in the Lakes. The only thing people in the Lakes like about tourists is their money! If they could have your money without you messing up their lives they would I'm afraid. This gives some a real excuse to let those feelings out.

I live in London. I welcome tourists, even the ones who come from Cumbria and Cornwall who might not welcome me.

I often approach lost-looking souls to give directions. Everyone is really grateful, though at first some of the them look at me as if I am a front for a gang who wants to mug them and kidnap their children.

I'm proud of where I live and very needy for praise.

This whole situation is just giving some people a chance to be dramatic and superior. I would go NC

You want to visit her? Some things aren't worth having. That includes a cousin with a horrible attitude to others albeit living in a place with a lovely view. Plenty of places to go without her in them.

The council don't really give a toss, to be fair!

My guess is the council would give a toss if tourists stayed away for the next three years; given the black hole LAs are facing in their finances already with reduced income from parking and business rates; and increased expenditure on the corona virus?

YANBU. One of the shittier things about this crisis is the way it's given people free rein to police other people's behaviour and generally behave like smug twats.

I wonder how many of those complaining about are "blow-ins" to the Lakes? If someone bought and moved there well they would have fully realised the sheer numbers that visit there all year around - not just in the summer time.

If you want a quiet life and not many visitors to your area then dont buy in the Lake District.

I do realise that this is a unique set of circumstances but, from what I have observed, people that go to their second home generally keep to themselves especially in a Pandemic.

I absolutely think your cousin was unreasonable to speak to you like that and it's not up to her when people can visit again but I also think its the case for a lot of locals who live in places frequented by tourists. Sure they add to the local economy and line some pockets but in Scotland places like Edinburgh during the festival and Skye in the summer are unbearable for a lot of locals who dont work in tourism. The same with places abroad like Dubrovnik and other cities with cruise ports. I'd hate to live in a place that got so crowded with tourists in summer. I've not been to the Lakes but I imagine that's the same.

@darkmintchocolate we're outside the national park and generally in an area that's ignored by tourists even though we're only 20 minutes or so from Coniston - so the council aren't really that bothered about putting off any tourists as we rarely ever get any in "normal times".

The Lakes are very strange like that - if something is outside of the border of the National Park, it's like 95% of people lose interest completely

And yet the locals are quite happy to take the money from tourists when it suits. It’s absolutely right that people should follow the guidelines and not visit beauty spots but it’s not the locals who decide when that is over.

Yuck, what a mean minded, ''little Englander'' mindset... Those of us who live in Cities have masses of Tourists, and while dodging them can be a pain, they are tolerated as they bring money in to the Country.

Certain areas of England and Wales can be like this, Scotland much less so.
Cornwall is insufferable in this attitude, yet relies almost exclusively on 'tourism'.
No wonder so many people holiday abroad, friendlier locals and better weather :)

we are keeping people out at the moment

Really? How? That's what I would have asked her. Once its open for tourists, signs will be ignored and road blockages removed.

The New Zealand situation isn't the same. They're a sovereign country with close to zero covid.

Cumbria is a small area of the country with a high level of covid.

I've heard of people having your cousins attitude in some areas. Total idiots .Firstly, they don't own the land. Secondly, they can't have their cake and eat it. If they put people off going there now they are not going to have tourists visit and spend money there later on. People will remember.

Is your cousin Lakes born and bred or an 'incomer' herself?