Glamping business hits out against ‘ludicrous’ tier system
The owners of a five-star glamping retreat on the Warwickshire/Oxfordshire border has slammed the “shambolic” tiering system which could see them issuing £17,000 in refunds to guests who had booked over Christmas.
Jo Carroll and and her partner Steve Taylor co-own Winchcombe Farm – currently under Tier 3 restrictions, which is located just 200 yards away from Tier 2 Oxfordshire.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said yesterday that the vast majority of the West Midlands would continue in Tier 3 – with only Herefordshire moving down from Tier 2 to 1.
Jo Carroll said: “We are completely unsurprised and underwhelmed to find ourselves once again placed in tier 3, despite continuing to have a low infection rate in our area. The shambolic way the tier is managed fails to take into account any element of common sense.
“We are continually told that they are guided by the science; but that simply isn’t true. It continues to be a postcode lottery.
“We have a Warwickshire postcode but are 200 yards from the Oxfordshire border.
Warwickshire is Tier 3 and the hospitality sector is closed. Oxfordshire is Tier 2 and we would be permitted to trade. It is a ludicrous situation.
“Our certified COVID-secure holiday lodges and tree house are situated on a private country estate, surrounded by farmland. We fail to comprehend why the self-catering sector continues to be forced to close when it’s one of the few places you can chose who to share your space with.
“There is absolutely no compelling evidence that staying in a holiday lodge in remote rural location, is less safe that visiting a nail bar, hairdressers, tattoo parlour or bookmakers. You can even visit Santa in his Grotto or stand in a queue for hours to shop in Primark in Tier 3, but you can’t stay here.
“We are now almost 3 weeks into this sorry saga and the local authority [Stratford upon Avon District Council] is still unable to pay businesses forced to close in Tier 3 any grants, as their IT system doesn’t work. This needs addressing PDQ before it pushes many hospitality businesses to the brink.”
