Sorry, I need to vent. Second home owners!

[Querlouse]

I live in a small village in a quiet farming area. One of the old cottages was bought by a family from London about 18 months ago, they spent a long time getting planning permission but have now started works.

They are coming down and meeting mates there every weekend. Yesterday I walked past (footpath runs alongside house) and there were two massive flashy Landrovers not really relevant cars outside and three blokes, at least two women and four kids all hanging out in the big garden. The house is currently uninhabitable so they aren't staying there permanently.

Dh says just forget about it but its really annoying me! Our village is generally really old and we've had no cases of cv so far.

It's not OK to drive 3 hours from London to a village then meet mates is it??

Are you starting up a campaign against these people? I recognise that type of person

Don't be weird.

I recognise your aggressive posting style from past threads. Presumably you've moved on from laying down the law in university education!

My local parish council objects to development all the time but is over ridden because they are wrong and don’t even follow their own guidelines. Shame they are not fined for time wasting

Ah, I see, you have a chippy personal vendetta!

As a matter of fact, I think we've advised against about 3 developments in 7 years. Both were approved after alterations. We have a neighbourhood plan and a really good relationship with the Council, sorry to disappoint you!

And those still banging on about less hospital capacity in rural areas. Well clearly there's not enough capacity in the extremely densely populated cities either. A big reason why we have one of the highest death rates in the world is people aren't being admitted to hospitals in time. We don't have the PPE or drugs to treat them.

The ONS figures recently released show the top ten areas for deaths are all London boroughs. They believe it's largely down to the very high levels of deprivation. I doubt many people think deprived areas tend to have well resourced facilities (they don't).

I think a lot of you have been really unfair and a bit silly. It's very clearly against the rules to meet up with other families and drive somewhere for a meet up, whether you think you won't affect anyone else or not. There's absolutely no way of knowing whether they are being sensible or not, I'd say if they are using their new house as an excuse to get out of London with their mates then they are probably going to the shops etc as well.

You must all realise this isn't a good thing to do, I recognise ine poster from the Kirsty Alsopp threads when she was getting a right kicking for leaving London and decamping to her holiday home, tbh she wasn't as bad, at least they stayed there and weren't driving back and forth.

I'm sure they are a perfectly nice family and when this is all over I look forward to getting to know them. Sadly for them they've not got off to a good start as the very old lady who lives next door is livid. In fact I've been reassuring her!

I guess people's views depend on which way the wind is blowing

Or, the people you read responses from last week are different to the people responding here.

I completely agree with what @BlackWhitePurple said earlier.

Even if they intend not to come into contact with anyone else, there are lots of completely plausible reasons this could happen.

Individually yes it’s unlikely but if everyone decided they could bend the rules to suit themselves then this would end up spreading the virus. It’s particularly bad travelling from a hotspot like London into a rural area that may not have cases yet - it just takes one person.

It hugely annoys me that people are behaving as ‘free riders’ on the sacrifices other people are making. It is just incredibly self-centred think it is OK to ignore the rules just for your own enjoyment because you’re relying on other people following them at the price of being lonely or stressed or facing financial hardship.

I wander why they want a holiday house in a village where the locals are all so nasty to them.

Who's been nasty?

No personal vendetta at all. The parish council have had to learn what they can influence and what they cannot. We have not personally had any issues.

People do take against incomers though and it’s a shame when that is used against them in planning applications.

At least I don’t change my posting name!

At least I don’t change my posting name! that is true!

Ha! Marpan. They will find out won’t they!?

Noone has been nasty to them. Where the fuck have you got that from?!

The old lady next door is shielding. She's old and scared. She hasn't been out of the village for 7 weeks. She's doing everything she's told to do by the govt, whether you think thats ridiculous or not isn't really the point. She's really upset and worried. She's angry with them but she's not being nasty.

Who's being nasty? You are OP. Why is it relevant where they are from? If your issue is people making unessential journeys and the risks that entails your concern is a valid one. But your OP is confusing because it suggests your problem is where they're from. Which seems pretty nasty to me.

Incidentally it's worth bearing in mind it's possible some of the travellers arriving unchecked with no quarantine daily at Heathrow aren't staying in London. Some will travel on public transport to their homes or families or wherever they're staying across the UK. Including perhaps where you live. I'd be concerned about that as much as if not more than one second home owning family (who nevertheless shouldn't be traveling between homes every weekend).

If your issue is people making unessential journeys and the risks that entails your concern is a valid one

Thanks, that's all its about, plus the mixing of households.

But your OP is confusing because it suggests your problem is where they're from. Which seems pretty nasty to me

I am amazed it is confusing for you. Its worth mentioning where they are from because London has a lot of cv cases and we have very few

So effectively you accept they posed no risk to you or any one in your village. You have no idea if they created a risk for themselves or others by mixing households because you don’t know how isolated they have been.

You’re simply livid because they broke the rules and think they are arrogant as they drive land rovers? Is this about right?

Excellent summing up Bluntness.

Fair enough OP. You're right, sorry. I too quickly assumed you were doing what many did in pre pandemic second home threads. Posters often seemed more concerned about where people were from than the fact they had a second home.

In this instance, yes, you're right it's definitely a valid issue.

I still think the lack of checks at airports is relevant. That family might see all the unchecked non essential flights arriving at Heathrow daily and think lockdown has been relaxed.

The government needs to do something about all the unnecessary journeys. Fines for the family you mention, and checks/quarantine at the airports. I suspect we're in agreement on all of this.

A month ago this thread would have been very different!

Not sure why you’re getting such a roasting OP.

I'm not sure why you're getting such a roasting either Op, some posters are being right twats.

Bluntness100 I totally agree.

(This is getting embarrassing, I promise I am not following you from thread to thread so I can agree with your posts )

To me the problem is if people don't follow the rules then more and more might start doing the same. If one person thinks they can go to their second home, perhaps others will think the same (if others in their circle have a second home that is) or they might think it's ok to go out for a daytrip or whatever. Lockdown might be easing soon but even so.

It's like my neighbour said weeks ago he was going to go for a drive rather than being cooped up. I didn't really have a firm view on it then but when he said he didn't see the harm I said the way I saw it was if he did it, then others might also be thinking where's the harm so then lockdown wouldn't work. Plus I said perhaps police wanted people to stay close to home in case of accidents, which might take resources away from where they might be needed at the time. I think he got that and didn't go out for a drive even though he's had people round in his garden recently. Up to him. Everyone thinks they're special and it's just them bending the rules but it can have a knock-on effect. Very few round by me are following the 2m rule while out walking and haven't from the start.

The title says “Second Home Owners”. It’s quite clear who was being targeted. They have met up with friends and that’s wrong but assertions about possibly lying about their proposals for their house and where they have bought food are speculation. As a parish councillor the op is coming across as biased and unpleasant.

If they drive electric cars, not so much of a problem. If they're petrol or diesel they have to stop for fuel, so increasing potential contact. Much of our collective safety depends on lots of marginal gains - that's why we have the rules on essential outings only.

This feels to me like an attack on second home owners/germ-ridden Londoners disguised as “concern” for elderly neighbours.
OP - you remind me of Hyacinth Bouquet (or is it Bucket?) - that is very much how you come across (wasn’t she on the parish council too )

But I’m sure that in a few weeks when lockdown lifts and the newcomers are ‘legally’ allowed to be there (and the virus will STILL be around btw) you’ll be their BFF and make them really welcome. And you won’t try to hinder their planning permission in any way?

I don’t know why you’re getting piled on either Op. It’s been clear all along, don’t make unnecessary journeys, don’t mix households.